


We've Left the Isle ( I don't wanna be lost anymore )

by In_this_life_and_the_next



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Abusive Parents, All the kids learning how to use their magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Auradon Kids Visit The Isle, Auradon kids slowly realise how bad the isle was, Blood and Injury, Canon untill Descendants 2, Evie has magic too, Evie suffered past sexual abuse, Evie/Mal-centric (Disney), F/F, F/M, Isle Kids v Auradon, Jane is a fairy like her mother, M/M, Magic, Past Child Abuse, Politics, Processing Trauma, Redemption for Audrey, Revolution, Violence, War, Werewolves, fae, isle worldbuilding, mal doesn't know she is hades daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 18:42:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 95,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20934947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_this_life_and_the_next/pseuds/In_this_life_and_the_next
Summary: The isle was always going to leave Mal and the others scarred and untrusting; they were always going to wash up on Auradon’s shores with more than a few haunting memories.What if it was Evie’s hand Mal held at that coronation? What if Mal got Uma off the isle as soon as the coronation ended?Mal and Evie slowly let themselves fall in love, old enemies slowly become friends and everyone’s scars start to heal… just in time for the Council of Heroes to condemn any more attempts to get the children off the isle.They were always going to have to fight to get every kid off the isle, but Mal didn’t expect that she’d be fighting in an actual rebellion with her new friends from Auradon Prep.Mal’s determined everyone gets to have a happily ever after. Whatever it takes. (It takes a lot)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In Loving Memory of Cameron Boyce.

Everything was different from the Isle.

The second they crossed the barrier Mal’s eyes shone a bright, gleaming, magical green and her whole body went rigid like she had been electrocuted. Her knuckles went white with pressure as she clenched her hands tight against the unearthly onslaught upon her body. Her face twisted into a pained, silent snarl as she grimaced. Her hands shook, her body trembled and a trickle of blood dribbled from her nose and hot from her ears. 

_Magic. _

It had to be magic.

Mal’s birthright had been stripped from her by the borders of the Isle of the Lost since the very first breath she took. Now it returned to her at once, the second she crossed the boundary line. It was an explosion of power. Seventeen years’ worth of denied magic given back all at once. It felt like a wrecking ball was smashing through her bones and a raging fire was storming through her blood.

It felt like she had been shot by lightening the moment she broke the barrier, and she had been suspended in its arch of light in the long, painful moments since.

And then,

Mal felt the dragon in her wake.

She felt a rumble of _true power _crack open inside her, felt all the bounds from the isle fall away and what she could truly do – who she could truly _be - _echo inside her.

On the island it was easy to forget who they actually were. That Mal especially, was only _half _human. She looked just like the others. She got hurt just like them. They all bled the same red blood and her eyes barely glowed green at all. That alone seemed to be the only piece of magic the barrier couldn’t take away from her. She had forgotten what had been owed to her, had never known a single drop of the magic that ought to flow steady in her blood.

But now there was no denying that the Great and Dark Fairy Maleficent was her mother. Mal may have been human in all but name on the Isle… but outside of its magical gates she was something else altogether.

Her body was alive with it, with power and magic. Hurting and burning with agony, but _alive. _She felt her insides churn painfully as she started to shake more and more violently. Her hands trembling beyond all of her control as suddenly the skin on the back of her hands tore open. Her bones shifting and cracking beneath her skin. Unearthly purple magic glowing as it wrapped around her bones and made them into something new.

Mal felt the dragon that had been trapped beneath her skin for as long as she can remember, shift from its endless slumber and start to break free from its magical bounds.

She let out a moan between her teeth as her head spasmed backwards. It was overpowering. Her teeth grew sharper in her mouth and as she bit her lip as she trembled, she felt them like razor blades. Her blood dribbled down her chin.

It was all she wanted. All her body seemed to want to do - all the magic that had just been dumped on her was all clamouring after the same thing. It wanted to change her bones and rip out of her skin and give her new teeth and claws and become something else entirely. 

The dragon inside her, that had been trapped in her bones since she was born, wanted _out. _

But she had to control it. They would never let her off the Isle again if she shape shifted into a dragon within two minutes of leaving.

Mal forced her eyes shut. Those blazing green, magical eyes, full to the brim of power, and commanded the dragon back within her bones. She clenched her jaw and her fists hard by her sides. Felt the warm hot blood running from her nose and ears and tainting her tongue and said _not yet. _

She quieted the dragon and slowly felt her eyes fade back to their normal, much more human level of green. No longer singing the enchanting siren song that called forth her powers in a wave of _come to me, change for me, let me be free _that had pushed her skin apart and shown her pale bones to the open air. 

It hadn’t been easy on Evie either. She sat by Mal’s side holding her head in her hands with her face in a pained grimace.

Just as blood now ran in thin streams from Mal’s nose and ears, and spilled from her mouth where her strange sharp teeth had pierced her lips. Evie too paid the price for regaining magic.

Blood ran into Evie’s clothes, down her neck from her ears and slipped between the fingers Evie had digging into her skin. Against a noise, a power, an agony, that only she could hear and feel.

Her lips glistened with the bright red blood that dripped from her nose. It was almost indistinguishable from the ruby red lipstick she was wearing. The two mixed. Evie’s blood shining and bright, made her lips sparkle in the light of the rising sun. It almost looked beautiful, if it wasn’t so disturbing.

To the others it looked like their magic was digging its way back into them. Boring under their skin, no matter how much it might hurt. No matter the cost, no matter that it made them bleed.

Evie’s magic was nothing like Mal’s. It didn’t make her hands shake or her bones crack and grow, Evie was only human after all. Unlike Mal. Where Mal’s mother had been Maleficent, the great and dark Fairy, Evie’s mother had been nothing but human.

That hadn’t hindered her though, hadn’t made her power any weaker. Just different. The Evil Queen had been dark due to her own merit of course. No great magical blood like that of the Fae. She had dark poisoned eyes and hateful magic. She had been powerful too. An evil enchantress with great death and destiny heavy in her words.

A sorcerer. Just like her daughter.

Evie felt something that glittered settling beneath her skin. Something that would give power to what she said. Something in her that made magic obey, bend itself to her desires. A new weight and a new crown to bear. Heavy and unearthly.

Carlos and Jay had inherited no such magic from their parents and were watching the two across from them in a horrified silence. They suddenly felt the differences between the four of them. On that island they had all been the same. But out here… they had strange new natures. They knew better than to alert the limo driver that anything was amiss this side of the car’s partition between them.

When Mal finally got herself back under control she let out a ragged breath of air and looked into their astonished eyes. Nothing had happened to them the second they crossed, they were as they had always been and would always remain. Human forevermore. They couldn’t help but stare, agape. Everything they had known about their friends changing in a heartbeat.

_Mal was only Half – human. _

_Evie was an Enchantress. _

Carlos had watched as the skin on Mal’s hands knitted back together. He had actually seen her bones, real actual bones, as her hands had convulsed and shifted. Mal used the sleeve of her leather jacket to wipe at her bleeding nose and ears. A quick glace to the two boys across from her made it clear they were thinking the same thing,

_Can’t tell anyone about that. _

Mal reached over to Evie and slipped one hand into hers. Giving her something to grip tight as she rode the last, painful waves of her magic crashing into her. After a few moments more, Evie looked up as well. She breathed out in relief, the pain finally receding.

“That… didn’t feel good.” Evie said, her voice strangely raw – like she had been screaming without making a sound since her magic crashed its way into her body. She could feel the magic crackle under her skin, she could feel a new weight inside her. Evie’s breath hitched in her throat as she paused. She could feel something new in her voice. She could _feel _the magic in it now. Layering over her words, coating her tongue. Ready to call spells to her, casting one as easy as speaking.

For once they had a power they didn’t have to earn. Didn’t have to claw from the isle with bruised hands and bloody fingers. Even the first step into Auradon gave them new freedoms beyond imagining. New powers that changed the very nature of who they were.

Jay let out a slow whistle, “Ok. I guess we should have expected that.”

Carlos peered at them with his eyebrows set in a frown, “I don’t think anyone in Auradon expected that either. If they knew your first magical instinct was to become a dragon I think they might have sent more guards.” He looked around in disbelief, “or you know – _any _guards.”

Evie made a noise of agreement. Her eyes far away as she looked out at the glittering sea beyond the window. “They must not have realised.” Evie’s fingers dabbed at the blood on her lips with a careful frown, tasting the blood all over her tongue as she spoke. “No one’s ever been left of the isle before, after all. They probably didn’t think we’d feel it. They have no idea what to expect.”

_We have no idea what to expect either – _went unspoken. They were all thinking it. They had done the impossible, the unthinkable… they had left the isle of the lost. Stepped through the enchanted barriers that locked away their powers and potential and damned them for eternity to live in a prison.

Mal didn’t say anything. Her head was still a loud storm of new things and feelings. There was a _dragon _in her, something she could become at a mere thought and lust for power.

She was only _half _human after all. Her bones had glowed. Had shone with power.

Mal buried the dragon further, and locked memory of her skin ripping somewhere deep. Scared that if she so much as thought about it – acknowledged it any further, her bones would once again start to glow and crack.

Instead she unzipped her jacket to wipe her bloody face on the hem of her shirt. If information was power, it was better to let their new peers in Auradon see not a speck of how much it had hurt crossing the barrier. She would not let them see her bleed.

Jay passed his ragged scarf to Evie, and she wiped the blood from her neck too. The blood settling between the creases of their clothes would be harder to get out but Mal doubted the Auradon kids would think anything was amiss if they spotted it. They were from the isle after all. Now was the time for unfailing strength, no matter that cost too.

The car finally rolled onto solid ground, the glittery magic bridge disappearing behind them. Mal looked back, the Isle was so far away it looked like nothing but a tiny pebble on the horizon. Moments ago, that had been the only place they had ever been. Mal took a deep breath.

Mal had assumed she would live and die trapped inside that island. Never to leave, never to cross the sparkling ocean that surrounded them. Never to understand exactly what it meant to be owed magic. Mal had bled a lot in her life, but never for that. Never to gain something like that. But everything had a cost – and this magic would too. If there was any certainty she could ever have held in her hand, it would be that. _Everything has a price. Everything hurts. Be prepared to pay it. _

Auradon arrived and the four kids from the isle could not have looked more out of place. Their clothes were scrappy, mismatched and seemed to be haphazardously patched together. They all wore leather, scuffed up and ragged as it was, studded with metal, odd hoops and all sorts of scrap.

Their hands too, all bore similar leather fingerless gloves. They had been studded too. Improvised knuckle dusters every one of them. Mal’s looked particularly sharp, odd bits of scrap metal stuck out at dangerous angles, anyone who got close enough to hurt her had another thing coming.

It didn’t help that Mal’s jacket was clearly smeared with blood. It didn’t look like it was hers either. It looked like she had recently given someone a brutal smackdown and didn’t care about washing it off. She wasn’t going to tell though. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of knowing her magic coming back had literally made her bleed. It was harder to spot on Evie’s jacket. The blood mixed in with the ruby fabric haphazardously stitched across Evie’s dark blue jacket.

The high schoolers around them were dressed perfectly, in pastel pinks and blues and yellows. Their clothes seemed to serve no purpose but to be worn with pride and passion. It was surely too cold to wear those thin dresses outside, but of course, they wouldn’t be outside for long. Warm homes awaited them, warm fires, warm food. Their jackets were tailor made and gleaming, made out of soft satin and stitched together with precision and care. There were no scratches to be found, no patches or rips or the tiniest speck of dust.

Their clothes were far too thin and useless to protect from an attack. Being caught in a fight in a dress like that was the surest way to get stabbed. Leaving arms and legs exposed just gave more opportunity to be hurt, more places to be hit. Their dainty hands were so soft and unmarred.

Mal’s hands were heavy from the thin chains that wrapped around her palm. It was better not to break your knuckles upon impact. It was better to break your opponent’s face than your hand. It was always better to hit first and ask questions later.

Mal felt an ocean between them all. They could not have been more different from the Auradon teenagers before them. There was an impenetrable barrier between them, Mal had grown up on one side and these kids had grown up on the other.

The Auradon kids looked at the new arrivals with cold, hard eyes. Mal could see the absolute distrust in them as they watched. They saw the isle children and did not see who they were. They did not see teenagers who were a product of defence and survival, of the purest will to live and the stubborn instinct to cling to life _whatever it takes. _They saw their studded leather clothes, ripped and covered in bloodstains. They saw their knuckleduster gloves, scrap made metal armour and they saw only evil.

They saw dark ambition, ruthless abandon and calculating eyes. God even Mal and Evie’s hair screamed of dark deeds and evil magic. Mal had enchanting purple hair and bright green eyes. Everything about her was the mirror image of the dark fairy Maleficent who had so tortured and terrorised a whole kingdom for hundreds of years. Her appearance just screamed _magic, magic, magic._

They saw this tiny girl before them, a mirror image of what had been once and they feared what she would become. What she may do to them now they were on this side of the isle. They saw her eyes sparkle with green fire and saw something born of darkness. They saw someone who had inherited magic and dark purpose.

Where once her mother had failed… she would not. They looked at this girl and did not see a girl at all, just a conglomeration of all their fears come to life and dressed up as a teenager. Another Maleficent. Another who would destroy the world and send kingdoms into ruin as easy as whispering a charm.

They saw Evie, picture perfect, with lips red and hair an enchanting blue. If it is true that the most beautiful things are the most dangerous, are the most _poisonous, _than it was no surprise that the Evil Queen was this girl’s mother. She had been the Queen of poisoned, deadly apples after all. She had cast Snow White into a sleep like death so that the Evil Queen’s beauty could not be rivalled by anyone alive.

They saw Evie’s perfect make up and captivating brown, sparkling eyes and did not trust her at once. They saw the Evil Queen in miniature but this time, even more beautiful. Evie had hair like liquid sapphire after all, it shone like all the jewels in the keep. They would not trust a word from those perfect lips, or take a single bite of food from those delicate hands.

This was a girl of lies. A girl of manipulation, magic and cruelty. Her mother had tried to murder a child to get what she wanted. What would this girl do? What would her vanity push her into? What would this girl do to be fairest of them all, where her mother had failed? She would cast all others down before her. They saw Evie and their eyes were dark with hatred. They saw Evie and imagined what she could do to them. What she might do to claw power out of their hands and a kingdom of her own. Evie was a princess of nothing. She had nothing to lose, and a whole world to gain.

They saw Carlos, with huge dark eyes and did not see the softness in them. They saw his beauty, his sharp cheekbones and his bountiful freckles. They saw his hair, that strange cascading mix of black and white and saw his mother remade. Cruella too, had been beautiful once. It had been that hunger for power, for status, for clothes that sparkled and shone with wealth… that had driven her to deadly, desperate acts.

They saw the fur on the edge of Carlos’s coat and did not think of how cold the isle must be. They saw the same wish his mother had once. The wish that got her cast out to the isle when she tortured puppies and wanted a coat made from their skin. Here was the child of an insane murderer. What to this boy, was a hundred and one puppies, in exchange for a beautiful coat?

They saw Carlos’s skinny, shaking hands and did not see the cold on his bones. They did not see his fear, how he trembled before them. They saw the shaking of insanity. They saw his deft fingers around necks and the quick, unflinching actions of a murderer. Those hands and dark deeds. They could see blood dripping from his fingers. Taking a life for vanity. Skinning animals for fun. They saw his soft brown eyes and saw a lust for death that was not there.

They saw Jay, his strong handsome face and long dark hair. They saw his thick strong arms crossed across his chest, an indifferent expression and saw only the power of Jafar. They saw his eyes, shining like alabaster and did not see warmth in them. They saw a young mirror of the man who had kept a kingdom captive with a magic staff. It’s swirling, hypnotic eyes making all bow before him. They saw the son of the man who had not taken no for an answer. Who had trapped a princess in an hourglass because, “_If I can’t have her, no one can!” _

They saw only what harm he could do with his hard earned strength. Jafar’s desire to become the most powerful being in all creation had left a trail of destruction around him. He had been content to destroy one world and rule its ashes. All this young man before them would want was power too. He was hungry for it too, greedy for gold, greatness and princesses.

They saw a thief amongst them, with quick fingers and no remorse. What he could take was what he could get. And suddenly, here he was. In a land of wealth, opulence, royalty and princesses beyond all compare. They would never trust him, not any smile on his face or any hand held out in kindness. They wouldn’t let him within an inch of what glittered, shone or smiled beautifully.

Mal could still feel the strange new and uncomfortable sensation of magic under her skin. She could see the way the Auradon kids were watching them and it made her eyes prickle. She was used to that heat in them, that spark of life as they glowed brilliantly. That had not been taken from her on the isle even when all other magic had. But now, true magic backed it up. More than a spark… an inferno.

Below her skin she could still feel that dragon settling, rumbling and shifting. It would not take much to let it loose. But Mal didn’t particularly feel like being run through with a sword on her first day of freedom – a feat which turning into a dragon by accident would definitely accomplish. Something her mother could attest to at least.

Her mother had turned into a dragon and an enchanted sword had found its way into her chest. She had barely survived… survived just long enough to be cast on to the isle and condemn all her descendants to misery for eternity. The very injury that had weakened her enough to be first cast out onto the isle of the lost at all.

Mal didn’t want that. She couldn’t go back so soon. Not like that. She forced the dragon down. Her hands in fists by her side. This was going to be something she’d have to fight, she realised. If she didn’t want to be shot down over the castle with half a dozen spears inside her. Mal had been stabbed a fair few too many times in her life already and had no desire to relive the experience. Mal felt a warm droplet of blood leak from her ear from the force of battling that magic down and brushed it away before anyone could notice. She tucked her hair behind her ear, looking every inch the disinterested heir of an evil kingdom.

Evie beside her was still feeling the new pressure in her head and dizzying lights in her eyes. She could see the world differently now. It was hard to tune out the flow of magic around them. Even the statue before them was enchanted, flickering from one form to another. Evie could see the aura around it, the magic compelling it to change. It was giving her a splitting headache, a whole new host of senses opening up to her and overwhelming her. She could tell Mal wasn’t doing much better next to her. But they could not appear weak. Evie let her face settle in that hard, unfazed stare she had perfected. Ignoring every stab of pain behind her eyes. Ignoring the magic she could see flowing around Mal and some of the students of the school before them.

Ben was the only one who was actually happy to see them. It was this kid, this child king who had looked across the sea and deemed it wrong. He had been the only one… in this huge court in this great land who though it wrong to condemn children to live and die on a guardless prison. The only one who thought it wrong enough to try and change at least.

He had that look about him, purity of heart. He had kind eyes and a kind soul and if the four kids hadn’t realised by reaping in the hate filled stares of his peers - without Ben in line for the throne, not a single one of them would have let them come across to the mainland. The Isle kids would have grown old and died there, without this chance, this break for freedom before them.

Innocent until proven guilty didn’t seem to count when your parents were evil. Mal couldn’t really blame them though, their blatant distrust. Their parents had sent them here with a mission, with a dark and deadly purpose. They had held their arms tight in desperate hands and bored the mission into their heads. They had no choice. Not if they ever wanted to see their parents again and survive the encounter.

Mal felt something like guilt squirm in her chest. She was going to prove Ben wrong. They all were. Once they had the wand. Mal couldn’t help but look around them, with a mask of disinterest on her face. It was so _green _she could barely stop staring at the endless lines of trees that ringed the school before them. The air was crisp and clean without any of the usual smoke or scent of trash on the air. That’s what came from a place not mounted with all of Auradon’s heaping garbage.

_Not for long. _Whispered a part of Mal, more reluctantly that she would ever admit to the others and most absolutely not to her mother. Soon this kingdom of opulence and green with fresh faced children and sturdy homes would be laid to waste. Destroyed in the name of revenge and a thirst for power that even 20 years behind a magical barrier had not sated in their parents.

Mal hardened her heart against that thought. Auradon had abandoned them on the isle. Abandoned them as _babies, _to grow up in an inescapable, guardless prison. Their parents might have deserved it… but Mal could not forgive them for punishing her simply for being alive. Maybe they would deserve what was coming. What would happen once they had the wand. Once their parents broke free and regained their magic once more.

But while Ben’s peers stared at the isle kids and saw nothing but tiny versions of their parents, ready to listen to that siren song of evil they had inherited and destroy all they held dear. Ben saw something else entirely.

They didn’t look like teenagers… they looked like they were dressed for warfare. Which, Ben realised suddenly, they kind of were. The Isle was clearly no place for children to grow up.

They were dressed against the cold, because the heating didn’t work and the electricity flickered on and off with the reliability of the predicting the future. They were dressed for protection, their clothes more armour than anything else. Armour made from whatever they could get their hands on. With something sick and sad lurching in his gut, Ben recognised the metal going in neat rows down the sleeves of Evie’s jacket were old, discarded, disposable razor blades.

Armour made from whatever they had. Which just meant Auradon’s trash.

He saw children dressed for war, children who had no place being soldiers at all. He saw their clothes, studded with sharp edges and made from half a hundred pieces of scrap and their dark, untrusting eyes. Even the way they stood together, all with keen eyes and heads tilting slightly looking at their sides. Guarding each other’s backs against a whole host of people they had no idea if they could trust.

Little soldiers. Every one of them.

That’s not to say they weren’t beautiful, or that they didn’t care about their clothes. That was written the loving way Evie had created her blue jacket out of scraps and paid special care to the soft red lining. It showed in Mal’s beautiful dark purple hair and blazing green eyes. But their clothes was very much a product of what they had available. And just how many people they needed to fight on the daily. And the high risk of being stabbed.

It all went in and what came out was four kids dressed like they had just come from a battlefield, every day a battle of some kind. Every day too cold, every day the chance of violence, every day starvation and dread and fear.

Ben pushed down his rising lurching feeling of _sooner, I should have got them off sooner. _And instead greeted the four of them with nothing but kindness shining in his face. Trying to make up for the blatant distrust not hidden at all in the faces of his peers around them. He shook their hands like he wasn’t at all nervous of their studded leather gloves, like he trusted them completely. He needed them to realise that he did, that he was truly letting them of the isle so that they could actually have a chance.

That night, with the promise of unspeakable pain hanging over their heads if they refused. If they ever dared to return to the isle without fulfilling their mission, they took Ben’s kindness and immediately started their hunt for the magic wand.

They do what it takes. That night, the first of many. Before they can commit to this side of the dawn, before they are lured in by warmth and food and education. Or Ben’s charming good nature and his genuine willingness to help. They shake off the strange new feelings of this strange new land with its bright forests, huge castles and child kings who have kind, brave hearts and break into the museum.

They don’t get the wand. That case of blaring alarms and panicked security guards made them flee the scene before they can figure out how to break the enchantments.

But Mal won’t forget for a long time the gasp she heard from Evie, and the one she let out herself, when they accidently entered the hall of villains and came face to face with their parents. The fear that had bolted through Mal at the sight of her mother, not realising at first and of course, that it was just a statue.

The others had it too. The way Carolos had tripped up as he spotted his mother, with her arms out stretched and that manic look in her eyes. That flinch on his face. Jay was silent. But his hands went straight in fists, his whole face tense as his breath hitched in his chest.

All Mal had thought as she had spotted her mother, with fear like lightening plunging through her chest was _how can you be here? _

It had taken her a few precious, stolen seconds of thinking she had somehow never left the isle, before she realised with a lurch in her stomach that it was just a statue. That she wasn’t face to face with her Maleficent after all.

Evie had felt a familiar gut wrenching fear steal her breath away, with a flinch on her face as she saw her mother. Any small shred of safety that had started to feel in Auradon had suddenly been ripped away at once. Evie had started to believe it, that she was here and her mother was there. That she was unable to see her, hurt her, scare her. But in that heart stopping moment, Evie really felt she had never left the isle. It made Evie feel sick, scared and old wounds ache inside her.

Evie looked away. Unable to bear it, while Mal stared at her mother for a fraction longer.

They withdrew from that room and pretended like they had seen nothing.

But something stayed with them, heavy in their chests after they saw their parents like that. They were well used to being afraid of them, but they had never seen them looking like that. Never _that _powerful. That unholy and magical.

Those statues captured their parents at the height of their wars. Their rampages across kingdoms and fits of murder and passion. The statues showed exactly who their parents had been when they lived in the lands now called Auradon. It showed what they had done with their great and terrible powers, and why the people of Auradon were so very afraid even to this day. Of them. Of their children too.

They thought the only way they would ever be safe after all, was to cast them all out. On a magicless rock in the ocean. They had left them to die there.

The hall of Villains wrote their terrible deeds on the plagues at their parents feet. Deeds. Sins. The crimes that had worthy of the highest punishment Auradon could invent. Mal was used to hearing those deeds in the triumphant voices of old villains, who reminisced about all they had done when they were young and beautiful. They spat them out with cruel smiles and deadly, far away voices.

But this room was not like that. These plaques did not speak of any nearly won victories. This was not a fondly missed memory to reminisce about to an island of prisoners. Every inch of this room spoke of loss. Greif. Death. The final toll. The price each act had cost the kingdoms had been written in blood after all. The plaques immortalized the dead. It named them all, etched along the walls in so many slabs of stone Mal couldn’t count them all if she tried.

Their parents had a mad gleam in their eyes when they talked about Auradon. When they talked of power, victory and vengeance. But here, in stark contrast to the _triumph _and _revenge _speeches from their parents, all Mal could see here was those endless caved rows of names.

Their parents held pride in those lists. Mal knew that with a gut wrenching, sickening certainty. They had revelled in the bodies at their feet. In the castles they had torn down, stone by stone, with just a wave of their hands. They got a look in their eyes. Naming them. The places they had set ablaze, rampaged through or cursed. The animals they had killed, skinned and tortured with great suffering and cruelty.

As they stood there, vastly overshadowed by their parents hulking figures, Mal looked over at her friends and saw the dark clouds in their eyes. Where at first, fear bright and shining had shone through – overcoming any rationality that they were _here _and their parents were _there. _All that shone in their faces now was dark rolling storms.

It was because of their parents, all the deeds done and captured in this haunted room, that all four of them had grown up on the isle at all. Now here they were, even their first taste of magic and freedom and steps onto new ground came with a terrible price. They were here to steal the wand, so this room could be turned to ashes and more names would be added to lists of the dead.

It was not desire to have their own statues erected one day in a different hall of villains that pushed them forward into that museum. It wasn’t desire to be like their parents with which they looked desperately for the magic wand. It was in fear of them. The knowledge tried, true and tested that pain, punishment and death was promised to them if they failed. If they got the wand, the next time they saw their parents, it would not be their last bow before the dark empty night. This might do it. Might finally fix it all. Might just make them worthy in their parents eyes, might rise them above the ranks of something that could be easily discarded or replaced. At least if their parents were busy burning the kingdoms… the hurt and pain would not be directed squarely at them.

Because there was no one to win over on the isle, no princesses to beat or kingdoms to destroy. The only pieces on the chess board were their children, the only victory or defeat in their hands. Their little soldiers… their little slaves… their obedient and unwilling descendants.

This was their inheritance around them. An inheritance they could never shake or be rid of. Their names belonged in this room. They were the ones destined to pick up the staff of their parents, who were unable to continue their dark dreadful legacy themselves while trapped on an isle of the damned.

Mal couldn’t help but look up at that statue of her mother, see the list of the dead it was synonymous with and feel her heart ache inside her chest. For she could see why the people of Auradon hated her. She looked exactly like Maleficent had. She was a carbon copy of what she had looked like long, long ago. Mal’s face was the one from the legends, from that 100 years of sleep and curses and destruction. Mal could never change that. Mal could never look in a mirror and see someone else but the daughter of the darkest fairy of them all.

She turned away, the mantle of her family heavy on her shoulders and strove off to find the wand. This was the life she had been born into. There was no escaping it. No matter what happened Mal would always be Maleficent’s daughter. If she was to be punished for that crime forever, as she had been punished for simply being born for the last seventeen years, then there was truly no other path to turn to.

Mal would never be trusted, nor accepted here. They had decided who she was the moment news had broken in Auradon that Maleficent had birthed a child. That she was Maleficent’s evil heir. A new dark fairy to unleash horrors on Auradon. The people of Auradon hadn’t even taken a chance when she was bright and new and only a few days old. They hadn’t trusted her then, when she was unblemished and unscarred and unhurt. They wouldn’t trust her now. With dark eyes and dark deeds to her name and scars of battle crises crossing her body as she fought in the name of Maleficent on the isle. They had locked her up simply for who she could be. For who she might become someday. Not realising that by that act alone, they had created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

_Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. _

They failed that night. The new dawn would not bring Auradon’s downfall and the crashing, burning of the magical barrier. Maleficent would not break through tonight and as such, the blaring alarms signalling their failure, the coming day would bring them their first day at Auradon prep.

Evie and Mal were absolutely exhausted by the time they returned to their dorm rooms that night. The pressure of keeping their newfound magic under control all day had taken its toll. It was impossible to get used to in just a few short hours, the power at their fingertips.

Mal’s eyes had barely stopped glowing from the second she was left alone. She had been fighting it all day, not letting any of the kids from Auradon see just how bright and dangerous her eyes glowed this side of the sea. Just how much her bones yearned to break free from this human form. Just how much it ate away at her, how much control it took not to turn into something else. Something infinitely more dangerous. Just like Maleficent, they would think. A carbon copy of the monster in the museum.

Evie felt dizzy with her power. She could see feel it around them, the magic in the air that something in her bones was finally allowed to connect to. It felt like on the isle that had been starving in more ways than one.

Somehow no one had put any thought into what it would be like, what would happen after seventeen years of deprivation to be given it all at once.

Mal was glad at last for peace and quiet. The magic gnawing on her bones all day had exhausted her mind and soul and body. Mal can feel it, it wouldn’t quiet. It was like a constant hunger or a constant ache. It begged to be released and she could feel her control waning on her tightly clenched fists.

_Not a dragon. Not a dragon. _

But something. She had to use some magic. Her skin had been only moments away all day from ripping open under the pure force of power that was her fairy inheritance. Seventeen years’ worth of humanity was enough for her body apparently. It clamoured for it, the magic that it had finally been allowed to connect to. It was like Mal had been starving her whole life and only now tasted the first bite of food.

Evie was struggling as well, her eyes were shut tight and her hands were locked at her temples. Their eyes met from across the room.

“I have to use my magic,” Mal said first, her eyes glowing an alarmingly bright shade of green. “I have to do _something, _anything. It’s burning me up. It’s getting harder to control.”

Evie agreed, nodding with a tight grimace, “I know. Me too. My head… it’s splitting. I won’t be able to hold it back much longer either.” She winced as she looked up at Mal. “I can see it Mal… all the magic swirling around you.” She clenched her eyes shut. “It burns so bright. It hurts.”

“How should we do this?” Asked Mal with no small amount of worry in her voice. Staring at her trembling fingers with reservation in her eyes. There was fear there too, fear of the dragon coming back and this time… not being able to stop it.

“I remember some spells,” said Evie “The ones my mother would say sometimes, in the hopes that they somehow worked. They never did though, of course.” Evie barely had to think to conjure the words of those spells in her mind, but didn’t dare say them aloud. The things the Evil Queen had wished for… had never been pleasant.

Her mother, unable to break a lifetime of habits, had cursed sometimes. Spat out dark, brutal things despite the endless years she had been trapped, magicless on the isle of the lost. They were dark, painful to hear. The words were like sharp glass was in her mouth, cutting her tongue and coating everything she said in hot, metallic blood. They were born of hate and asked such evil acts.

The Evil Queen would get so furious, screaming at the sky as she had done so often before the barriers enclosed her life. Asking for apples to turn to death in a single bite. Asking for the breath to be ripped from the lungs of her enemies. Asking for the power in her blood to _come back _and rip the barrier around them to shreds. Magic never answered the call. It couldn’t. But the Evil Queen had tried enough times that Evie knew the spells without even trying to remember them.

But Evie would not be whispering any of those curses to life. Not tonight. “I’ll change them, I’m sure it’ll work. Magic is all around us after all… I think it just needs to know what we want it to become. A few… changes… and those spells should be harmless. Harmless enough anyway.”

“Good idea,” Said Mal, “I hope it works.”

“Me too,” Evie said with a long contemplative look at her hands before her. “Ok,” she said after a few moments, “Let’s see what happens.”

Evie shook her hands and held them out before her, shooting Mal a look of uncertainty before she spoke. She let the words come up from deep inside of her, like someplace she had gone in a dream. They flowed out effortlessly and became a spell the second they left Evie’s mouth. Mal could hear the magic layering her voice as Evie spoke. She could almost see the magic in the air being drawn to her, bending to her will. Becoming something else with just the power of her words.

_“Enchanted apple I do ask_

_That you appear for me._

_I summon from the dark of night,_

_And ask you for deep sleep._

_Form from gentle magic please,_

_And bring me dreams of peace.”_

Evie’s eyes glowed blue, startling and bright, as her magic swirled in her hands. From the blue mist an apple started to form, at first just a blur of red. It only took a few moments and suddenly in Evie’s hands was a perfect, shining red apple. Evie stared across the room at Mal with wide, surprised eyes.

“Oh my god it worked. _Mal,_” she stared across the room at Mal with deep surprise all over her face. “I can’t believe it. That didn’t even hurt. It was – It was so _easy.”_

“_Woah,”_ Said Mal, coming to Evie’s side at once to look at it. It looked perfect. Red and shining, Mal could almost see the enchantments sparkling from it.

Evie’s face changed, “Oh.” She said, her voice quieter. “Mal I made an enchanted _apple._ It was so easy… No wonder… no wonder my mother used them for everything.” Evie bit her lip. “I mean how different was it. That apple. That spell she used.” Evie stared at the apple in her hands, imagining a scene from so long ago. The very crime that had trapped Evie on the isle her whole life. Evie whispered quietly, feeling a wave of strange grief lap against her ribs, barely able to get the words past her lips. “_A sleep like death… from which one can never wake.” _An echo from a spell said long ago.

“It’s not like that,” Mal stopped her at once, seeing the look on Evie’s face. She picked up the apple from Evie’s hands. “This is an apple of sweet dreams Evie. It’s nothing like those awful cursed things your mother was fond of. She would never make anything as kind as this. Not like you. This is about as close to killing someone as my mother cracking a smile.” Mal shot her a grin, “In other words, it’s not going to happen.”

Evie smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks Mal.” She squeezed Mal’s hand in response, taking the apple back with careful fingers. “Still,” she grinned properly, raising an eyebrow at Mal. “I wouldn’t let any of the Auradon kid’s see this. Me, holding an enchanted apple? I think they might actually die of fright.”

Mal laughed brilliantly in response, “That I’d like to see. I don’t think you could walk two steps in this place with any apple, enchanted or not, and not see someone pass out. I don’t think they’d be too happy if they knew our magic had come back either. You saw they way they looked at us today… Especially Audrey. They would not be pleased to learn that my first magical instinct was to become a dragon like my mother.” Mal frowned.

Evie’s hand found Mal’s again. A comforting pillar of warmth against that train of thought. She couldn’t quite read the look in Mal’s eyes. Dread, perhaps. Mal had been raised upon stories of that dragon, that final, perfect form Maleficent was so fond of. How she had been threatened with it as Maleficent snarled. “_If we weren’t trapped on this god forsaken isle, you would have learned to fear my teeth by now.” _

But Mal’s magic was still writhing and desperate to get out inside of her. If she didn’t use some of it soon, she might actually accidently become that perfect dragon Maleficent raved about. Despite the fact it’s how she almost got killed.

_The spell book. _Mal remembered, grabbing it out of her bag. It was old and weathered and with a lurch in her gut Mal realised it was these pages… these spells… that had given Maleficent the power to curse Aurora once. Now Audrey would definitely _not _be happy to know Mal had _this. _

She shook her head against that chain of thought, she just wanted to see what she could do. Just like Evie wasn’t about to kill someone with that magical apple over there, the first spell Mal did wasn’t going to be to curse someone and cast a whole kingdom to sleep.

Mal could recite that spell however, Maleficent had recalled that story enough times Mal could conjure that curse up unthinkingly. Just as Evie could undoubtably make a _real _poisoned apple that could do some serious damage to whomever was unlucky enough to eat it.

Mal flicked through the pages before settling on one. She shot Evie a _let’s give this a go _look with the same uncertainty Evie had in her eyes moments ago.

_“I call fire to my arms_

_Light me up but keep me safe from harm,_

_Blazing bright give me the spark_

_To keep away the chills of the dark.” _

Mal’s hands suddenly burst into bright green fire.

_“Woah.” _Said Mal and Evie at the same time.

Evie couldn’t lie, in that moment with blazing green fire and magic eyes, she realised truly for the first time in her life, that Mal really was only _half _human. Mal really looked far from mortal holding fire in the palms of her hands as easily as it was water. But her face was shocked and her eyes were wary, the magic in her hands was just as surprising to Mal as it looked unearthly to Evie. Mal was still Mal, even with this new access to her inherited magic.

Mal closed her fists and the flames extinguished and at last Mal’s eyes stopped glowing so feverishly. She felt something in her blood calm down at last, something that had been bugging her all day.

Mal made a face over at Evie, “this is definitely going to take some getting used to.”

Evie nodded, turning the enchanted apple over in her hands, not daring to take a bite. “I agree…”

Settling in at Auradon prep seemed to be as many incidents as could be fitted into one day of the isle kids realising with no shortage of alarm, just how different life was on this side of the ocean.

First of all was the food. The fact that there was enough food. More food than they needed and more still even after that. It was laid out in the cafeteria as though it was not a precious resource to be guarded or fought for. Many of Mal’s deepest scars came from stealing food or protecting it from others. She had been stabbed only months ago for defending her half of the market territory from Uma and her gang.

Food was synonymous with pain and sacrifice and doing _whatever it takes. _Mal felt her side, where she had been stabbed, twinge a bit when she spotted it all before them. Abundant, opulent and… free. She had sacrificed more blood for food much less and much worse than this and had done so her whole life.

The rest of them too were staring at the spread with disbelief as well. Evie’s hands curled into fists by her side. One of the greatest struggles on the isle was getting just barely enough to eat. All four of them had skinny stark ribs and sharp hip bones and bony spines. They were strong… they had to be strong… but they were not ever full. Even if they did get enough food by some glorious miracle, if they didn’t want to be beaten within an inch of sanity or some other horrendous mind torture like Maleficent was fond of, they would give the lions share to their darling dearest parents.

Food was power after all. That was one of the great disparities between Ursula’s half of the isle and Maleficent’s. Ursula had a fish shop, an unrivalled source of food and might. Magic may have been lost to them on the isle, but the fish that passed through the barrier were Ursula’s territory. She had ruled the seas once, for one glorious moment she had held all of its power in the palms of her hands. She had owned triton’s trident and been more than a god. She had been the living sea and it had bent easily to her will.

And by god if she didn’t claw her way to controlling the seas of the Isle as well. Nothing would stop her, nothing would sate her. If she could not have the sea, Ursula would be damned if she didn’t at least – at the _very least – _control all the seas within their miserable spit of territory.

The punishment for defying this line in the sand was brutal. Enforced by her daughter and her terrifying band of pirates.

It made Maleficent quake with rage, with hate. They sent their terrifying children against each other. The two most powerful beings of the isle always in a struggle for power. But they did not fight with their own powerless, magicless bodies…but through the disposable bodies of their children.

Uma and Mal and their two gangs of scavenger children were always pushed more and more against each other. They always had to push and expand their territory. They had to claw every bit of power from that miserable rock in the name of their insane parents. Because walking home empty handed would only get them pain…and more pain again.

Ursula may have had the sea and the fish and a chip shop that bent all those who wished to eat something that wasn’t trash on her side of the island, to her. But Maleficent controlled the market place. Most of the merchants and the food grown in the shitty, barely fertile soil of the isle. Mal’s doing. All of it. Her quick fingers, sharp knives and brutality. Stepping out of line and making trade with the wrong side of the island was the quickest way for Maleficent to send her children to do her dirty work and get the merchants back in line.

Two different sets of racketeering child soldiers.

Fresh fish was something Mal could only dream about. She had it only twice. Her and the others sworn to absolute secrecy that they had snuck in and stolen some. Leaving no blood or bodies or broken bones. Not for territory or their parents or Maleficent… it had been just for them. A silent, sneaky, hidden act of rebellion against the insane amount of power their parents wielded over them.

Maleficent’s side of the isle, with its markets and merchants bore a different, less valued form of food. But no less fought over and craved and traded for. Currency as good as it came on the isle. Mal and the others just referred to it as Mystery Soup. One price for safety on Maleficent’s side of the isle was contributing to it. If you didn’t want to lose your fingers by god you found something to scrounge up once a week to give to the pot.

Mal didn’t even want to know what was in it each week. Despite having the unfortunate job of enforcing the laws. It was best to eat it hot and quickly. Not letting the taste stop you from swallowing it. But that was the way with most things on the isle. Doing things because you had to, to survive, not because you liked it.

It was Maleficent’s most constant source of hate the last 20 years that Ursula had a better currency on her half of the isle that Maleficent had clawed from her unwilling victims. The surest way to get backhanded in Maleficent’s presence was dare to mention that her territory ended anywhere the lapping sea crashed against the shores. Or mention desire for fish of any kind. It was better to shut up and pretend Mystery Soup was all one could ever want or dare to dream for.

Their whole purpose on the isle was to carry out their parents’ wishes. They were just vessels for their parents evil plans. Bodies to go get the food, bodies to defend territories. Bodies to do the dirty work. Bodies to hold the knives and whisper the threats in the _name of Maleficent. _

Even now, this huge grand scheme they were participating in. It wasn’t just _go have a better life in Auradon. _It was _break the barrier or die trying. _It was _break the barrier or don’t bother coming back. _It was _if you return without breaking the barrier you won’t leave alive again. _

Mal had to do it, she had to get the wand where they had failed at the museum. So she spoke soft cruel words disguised as a kindness, to Fairy Godmother’s daughter, Jane. She needed to figure out exactly when it would leave that protected, alarmed display. Into that bright bathroom Mal stalked, following the shy and stumbling girl who had been so clearly terrified of her. Jane had so quickly cast her eyes away from the four villain’s children and skittered off to safety. She couldn’t have more clearly painted a target on her back.

Jane humped when she saw that she was no longer alone. Her heart stopping in her chest when she caught site of Mal’s dark purple hair and deadly green eyes. But Mal smiled and did not show her fangs. Mal charmed her, spoke to her like she was shy too. She acted like someone who desperately needed friends too. She dragged Jane’s secrets out of her as easily as a few simple questions masquerading as a kindness.

Then Mal used her magic on her, just a taste, a drop, a dream. She let her eyes burn and magic flow from her lips and suddenly, beautifully, Jane’s hair was long and flowing and gorgeous. And all Mal had to do was smile, smug and proud and say, “Imagine what I could do with Fairy Godmother’s wand?” She had looked away. “It’s locked away of course. But I mean… could you imagine. Your very own _happily ever after.” _Mal left, and let that dark seed in Jane fester and grow until it consumed her.

Mal had shoved aside any guilty feelings. She hadn’t let the mask of cool, calm and deadly slip once from her face. The other girls approached her, all hungry for a taste of her magic themselves. Mal didn’t need to, it wasn’t part of the plan. But these girls were _rich. _Besides, Evie wanted the money. For this side of the sea was full of endless, amazing fabrics. She could make _anything _here. Evie could spend forever here, choosing the right cloth. Making all the clothes she had ever dreamed of. Feeling her heart sing inside her chest like it had so rarely been allowed to sing before.

Mal would do her bit, she would magic the other girls hair too. She couldn’t refuse. Not when Evie’s eyes gleamed with happiness at every new addition to her growing piles of fabric and sewing supplies.

But Mal couldn’t bury all her feelings. She couldn’t help but pause on a thought, feeling it tug at her ribs with a question of her own. Mal had used her magic in that bathroom because she had too. She had to do the job her mother had forced heavy upon her shoulders. Mal was half-Fae… She had inherited fairy magic. She had been owed it her whole life and finally been paid it the moment she stepped outside the isle. But here was Jane… daughter of the great Good Fairy Godmother… surely she was magical too?

For Jane had lived on this side of the barrier her whole life and her mother was the bright fairy from lore. If anyone else but Mal could have such magic in them, it was Jane.

Mal sat in her room, pouring over her mother’s deadly spell book and wondered why Jane didn’t just use her magic herself. Why turn to the dark fairy’s daughter when light, bright magic belonged to her bones as surely as Mal could call purple magic to her fingertips? It was their dear inheritance. Mal had only been practising a few days, Jane had a lifetime.

Maybe there was a different kind of barrier this side of the sea. Not the physical barrier that made Mal’s magic stay deep within her bones, but the societal kind.

What would it be like, after all, growing up with innate magic in your blood, singing to your soul, in a world where you _own mother, _was stopping magical learning?

Just as Mal had to be a mirror of her mother, the dark fairy Maleficent, so too would Jane have to become a mirror of the reformed magicless fairy from lore. How cruel. Fairy Godmother had grown up with her magic and become a guardian of it. She had made dreams come true and given out happily ever after’s.

Jane didn’t inherit that same mother, she got a new fairy, one with the past in the past and the new notion that magic shouldn’t be used to solve problems. How that would make Jane ache. That all those princesses, that Cinderella got a simple swish of a magical wand and her life transformed into an enchanting fairy tale. She became queen of a kingdom all thanks to magic.

So Jane grew up, forcing her magic down deeper and deeper to gain that glimmer and gleam of proud respect in her mother’s eyes. She shoved away her fairy inheritance, even when it seemed to overwhelming it burned bright in her eyes and threatened to overcome her.

Jane didn’t even get a wand, as all fairies for the last millennia had gotten wands the day of their thirteenth birthday. Jane’s magic was left to fester inside her with no way out. No release from the pressures and expectations of growing up the fairy godmother’s daughter.

Her magic as lost to her as Mal’s had been, growing up on the isle of the lost. Just another set of chains, dressed up as a kindness, as the beginning of a new age.

Mal started something in that bathroom. Using her magic freely and unburdened. Cracking something open inside Jane’s chest that begged to be free. Her body tasted the first true drop of magic for the first time in her life and all she wanted was _more. _Jane wanted that wand with just as much fervour as Mal and the other isle kids. Jane wanted to step into her inheritance as well. Jane wanted what was hers as surely as the moment she had been born and the world had welcomed another high fairy.

They had been at Auradon prep barely a few days when Family Day crashed upon them. They were all perfectly fine to be on this side of the isle, perfectly glad that they wouldn’t be seeing their parents, especially as they had yet to complete their mission.

But walking into Remedial Goodness they were met with the bright, beaming smile of one Fairy Godmother. Who announced with the dazzling tones of someone who truly thought she was doing a good thing, said was giving them “a real treat.” Only for the TV to flicker to life with the faces of their parents.

Fairy Godmother had looked at the isle kids and did not, for a moment really _see _who their parents were. She didn’t even have an inkling of what it must have been like to grow up with monsters as parents. She saw four kids who wouldn’t see their parents on family day. She saw four kids who would be missing their parents as much as anyone suddenly sent away to boarding school. She looked at them, and for all the good in her heart, didn’t think they might have welcomed the escape Auradon offered.

And what was the trouble of setting up a little broadcast from the isle of the lost when compared to the true joy of reuniting loved ones? Fairy Godmother was the bright fairy from lore after all. Her heart was made of good will and kind wishes. She would always listen to that little twang in her heart that compelled her to _spread joy. _

But as the TV flickered to life and revealed their parents, even she could not miss just how much their demeanour changed. Instead of splitting into cheerful grins like she had been expecting, their faces flashed at once with fear. She couldn’t miss it, the flinch written across their faces for the barest split second before they forced their expressions back into those dead pan stares they were all so fond of. Fairy Godmother suddenly felt out of her depth as she felt something cold stab at her heart and a wave of doubt wash over her. She was suddenly aware that this interaction might not be something the isle kids ever wanted anyone to witness.

The most feared villains in Auradon appeared on the screen. For the second time since arriving in Auradon, the isle kids unexpectedly came face to face with their parents. But this time, they were not statues. Their parents came to life on the TV, each of them shoving forward to peer at the screen to get a good look at their children. Mal hoped the resolution was blurry, she hoped they saw nothing amiss.

Mal wringed her hands behind her back, where Maleficent wouldn’t see. Her spine straight, her eyes locked dead ahead, betraying not a hint of her emotions. A little soldier. Obedience to the last. She was doing as she was told. She would not fail.

Evie stood up straighter and blinked at the screen without a hint of fear on her face. She swept her hair nonchalantly behind her back, everything that hated her mother hidden behind a cool mask of beauty.

Carlos put Duke down at once. His mother didn’t notice, but his heart still clenched tightly in response to her face on the screen. It didn’t seem like he was breathing at all. Jay shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped casually closer to Carlos. Casting him in his shadow as he avoided eye contact with any of the figures on the screen. Protecting Carlos as little as he could, from the manic gaze of Cruella Devil. 

Their parents were smiling, the act as foreign to them as kindness. Their unpractised grins looked terrifying and every cell in Mal’s body pricked with fear. They knew they were being watched, that Fairy Godmother was supervising this meeting. So their messages, deadly and terrifying as they were, were thinly veiled behind flimsy praises.

Mal felt sick. She would much rather have preferred the usual cut throat threats. The smile on Maleficent’s face was deadly. “I _miss _you.” Maleficent had choked out, her eyes boring into them like the point of a knife at their throats. “When will we see you again, soon? I hope so… I don’t think I could wait _any _longer to see you. I’m getting quite impatient. Because – I _miss_ you. So much.”

“Ben’s coronation is this Friday,” Mal had said, her spine like steel. No quiver in her voice. “You might see us then. It’s broadcast to the isle.”

“No sooner than Friday?” Maleficent had said with a dangerously sweet voice.

Mal felt her insides go as cold as ice. She didn’t dare look around at the others. The whole room felt like it had dropped a few degrees.

Mal knew what she was really asking. _Why hasn’t the barrier broken by now? How have you failed at your mission? If you don’t break the barrier soon… you will regret it. _The horrifying look on Maleficent’s face promised it. That dark, cruel cold smile had not a hint of understanding in it.

It read _do as I say and no one gets hurt. _

Mal felt her insides prickle with fear and bit her cheek inside her mouth to stop herself answering back. As usual she was met with the familiar mix of fear, anxiety and burning rage as her mother addressed her. It was always _try harder or else. Faster. More. This is not enough. _Mal was never good enough. Never evil enough. Never violent enough. No matter what she did. No matter who she got to bow before her and swear allegiance before Maleficent.

Even when Mal came home blood, bruised and victorious… there was always a flaw. It was always not enough territory captured back from Ursula. Not enough stolen goods or food. No matter what Mal did… how hard she tried or how much she bled… Maleficent would find something wrong.

Mal simply shook her head and heart Maleficent’s angry exhale in response.

Mal felt shame clawing at her ribs as she noticed Fairy Godmother expression change from the delighted look she’d given them when they arrived to the shocked, hurt expression on her face now. Mal couldn’t bear it.

Fairy Godmother might not have been watching the screen, but she had seen how quickly the isle kids changed in front of their parents. She couldn’t see how the looks on their parents faces that so clearly contradicted their honeyed words, but she could read it in the kid’s faces. The subtle way they stepped back. Bowed their heads. Averted their eyes. Became suddenly submissive in a way she had never seen them behave before.

Mal dared to look back up at her mother. Maleficent’s eyes were burning. Mal wanted to take a step back, but she didn’t dare show that fear before her mother. She stared at her angry face, she was still smiling… but it was more of a grimace than it had been before. Mal couldn’t help but see that statue of her, in the hall of villains. Maleficent had been front and centre, the most feared… the most hated. There had been so many dead immortalized on the walls around them. Each carved name was a person whose life Maleficent had taken with those same burning green eyes that Mal had inherited…the same magic that flowed in her blood. The same wicked, cruel smile that she saw on the screen before her.

Mal could see a shadow of the dragon that Maleficent had become once, the dragon that was just beneath the surface of that deadly grin. She can see it in her eyes. The fire and destruction she promised, the teeth and claws that would not hesitate should they ever turn on her; ever fail her.

And Mal knew with absolute certainty, that the price of failure would not be survivable. Not this time.

Family day came with Aurora’s mother screaming “_You!” _with an unearthly, horrified fear as she laid eyes on Mal.

“How – how are you here? ” The old lady demanded with wide, frightened eyes, jerking backwards into the arms of her smug granddaughter, Audrey.

All she saw was the figure from a curse long ago, the nightmare that belonged safe and sound on the isle of the lost. “And how- ” the lady stared agape at Mal, astonishment in her voice, “have you stayed so young?”

Mal’s eyes widened in surprise, shock all over her face, completely frozen. The old lady flinched as she saw Mal’s eyes, the same burning green as Maleficent’s. They were exactly the same as the eyes that she had stared into the day her daughter had been cursed to die. Aurora’s mother stared at Mal and did not see Mal at all. She saw the picture perfect copy of Maleficent. She saw the darkest fairy of them all, returned. Back to haunt her as if nothing had changed.

Mal jerked backwards as she realised exactly who this old lady was. This lady had been there, at the start of all of this. It was _her _who hadn’t invited Maleficent to her celebration. That act… had started all of this. Condemned Mal to an eternity of suffering on the isle.

This woman had seen the curse Maleficent had placed on her daughter with delight and wicked revelry. This woman’s life had been utterly upturned because of Maleficent’s cruelty. Of course she would hate Maleficent… of course she hated Mal. 

Mal’s very appearance terrified her. Her bright magical eyes were the same evil that had cursed her daughter to a hundred years of sleep. Mal felt sick, that someone would mistake her for her mother… that they looked _that _alike. Mal couldn’t find the words. She simply stared in mute horror. She knew what her mother had done. But it was different seeing it on this old woman’s terrified face. It was different knowing that Aurora’s mother blamed Mal too.

Ben stepped in, as of course he would. He defended her, explained that Mal wasn’t who this old woman feared. But even then… the old woman’s expression did not change. It was just as hard, just an unyielding.

“My daughter was raised by _fairies _because of _your mother’s _curse.” Aurora’s mother spat at Mal. Utter hatred on every inch of her face as she took in Maleficent’s unholy, undeserving daughter. “Her first words, her first steps… I missed it all!”

“No! Mal’s not to blame, she’s not like her mother.” Ben tried to defend her but it was no use. No one else stepped up in their defence or to aid their king. Mal realised again, with no small amount of alarm that if it wasn’t for Ben… they never would have stood on any soil that wasn’t bound between the enchanted barrier.

Mal stared at Ben in disbelief. How could a king stand against his own subjects like this? How was them being here, the children of Auradon’s greatest enemies damaging his credibility as king? Why would he risk all of that… to help some teenager’s he’d never even met before?

The isle kids ran from Family day with everyone staring at them like they were their parents reincarnate. Aurora’s mother had spat at them all, glaring daggers at each and every one of them. Raving loudly about the _poisoned apples, _the _spells, _and the _evil _their parents had brought upon the land.

As if Mal and the others were just as bad, just as greed, just as…. irredeemable. As if all that had happened in the past was their fault too. As though they had earned their spot on the isle of the lost, not just because they had the great misfortune of being born inside a prison. Mal couldn’t help but the magic that burned at her eyes with anger as they fled family day. Chad had said it right, in the wrong way of course, but he’d said it.

“They were raised by their parents Ben!” he had screamed, “What do you think villains teach their kids? Kindness? Fair play? Not a chance! We can’t _trust _them.”

He’d said it right there, but he still hadn’t gotten it. None of them had. Not a single person at that party realised or hero in Auradon realised what it _actually _meant to be raised locked away on the isle of the lost with all manner of monsters.

It was like despite being truly afraid of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil and Jafar, for some ungodly reason they trusted them to raise children. Mal could not understand _why. _The people of Auradon thought Maleficent had raised her with love, that because she was flesh and blood she wouldn’t _dare _hurt her. They thought Mal was evil, just like her mother… but somehow didn’t think that Maleficent would be _evil _towards her daughter.

It was as though they expected that Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos had been spared their parents most horrendous, cruel impulses. That they alone were the exception to their parents vicious anger, violence, desire for dominance and control and revenge that had made them such great and terrible villains in the first place.

But they _hadn’t. _

Maleficent was still Maleficent to her daughter. The evil queen had tried to kill her first step daughter, what about real flesh and blood meant that Evie would be safe? Jafar had only wanted to own Jasmine, take what was hers and rule her kingdom. Why would he treat Jay as anything but something to control? Cruella de Vil treated no living thing with kindness, she revelled in cruelty and hurting things smaller than herself. What was Carlos but a defenceless little kid?

They somehow thought that Mal had been raised up as a child and not as a weapon. But all Mal was to Maleficent was someone to keep others in line and create fear on the isle of the lost. Mal was just a body to do the dirty work. Some replicable thing to send into battle to fight her fights and get hurt and hit instead of Maleficent herself. Mal was not someone to love or care for. She was something that could be easily replaced, threatened, hurt, manipulated, terrified, injured and controlled.

Why didn’t they realise that Maleficent’s deadly green eyes frightened Mal just as much as they frightened Aurora’s mother? Maleficent _made _Mal kneel. She promised blood, pain and death if Mal refused. Mal could see it, the threat of agony in Maleficent’s eyes, just a hairsbreadth away if Mal put a single foot wrong. Mal had scars that sliced across her cheeks, and that one deep split through her eyebrow from Maleficent’s forceful backhands across her face. Mal knew exactly how sharp Maleficent’s rings were, she knew they left wounds that scarred.

No matter how hard Mal tried to resist or struggle or fight _back _in whatever ways she could survive… Maleficent always crumbled her into submission. Mal was never quite strong enough to rebel against the overwhelming danger of defying her mother. Mal’s childhood was _kneel _or _be made to kneel_. Mal’s childhood was if you do not bleed for me, _I will make you bleed myself._ Mal’s childhood was knowing if she didn’t prove she had the stomach for evil, for villainy… than she was less than useless to Maleficent. There was no use keeping something around that didn’t earn its keep after all. Mal had to wrestle control of an island of insane teenagers and monstrous adults, she had to be the most ruthless of them all or she would not survive the day. It was stab or be stabbed and Mal had experienced far too much of both.

They somehow thought that the daughter of the Evil Queen would be safe, despite her track record of trying to kill step daughters that were _far too beautiful. _Why would Evie, born with sparking brown eyes and enchanting blue hair ever be safe from her fits of jealousy and whims of murder and cruelty? Why would the magic mirror ever stop whispering about just _who was the fairest of them all _was_? _

Snow White was still alive and that spike of insanity had never left the Evil Queen’s heart. And that stupid, sneaky mirror kept saying that Evie was more beautiful than the Evil Queen too. Her mother went from first fairest, to second fairest… to third fairest… And it drove her frothing and mad with rage.

Did the people of Auradon think that potions, poisons and evil deeds would not be flung at her own flesh and blood because of the _power of love? _Evie was no safer on the Evil Queen’s isle that Snow White had been in that kingdom. Evie’s worth was all tied up in her beauty because that stupid mirror kept saying she was ever _more_ _beautiful. _And _fine, _the Evil Queen had spat, if the magic mirror says you are more perfect than I, then at least it can be worth something on this miserable isle.

Evie was used, dressed up and sold to the highest bidder. If she refused, she got pain and agony until saying no was worse than getting on with it. The Evil Queen had always had a way of making potions that bequeathed agony, even on a isle with no magic. Because more than anything the Evil Queen had to get her way. Evie slept with half the monsters on the island so her mother got her pretty clothes, pretty makeup, pretty mirrors and enough food to fill their little house.

Evie’s childhood was being starving, being sold and her mother hurling abuse at her for daring to take her place as fairest to all but one. Evie starved even when she earned them food through acts that made her feel sick to her stomach. Because she couldn’t eat it, knowing each hand grabbing her arms that had put it there. Evie stole food, made threats with knives held up to the throats of merchants and did whatever it took to eat. Anything was better than the other way. Anything.

Evie’s life was second in command of Mal’s gang. Always clawing back the territory they constantly fought over with Uma and her gang. If they didn’t their mothers would not be pleased. It was always better not to return home until they had some victory or spoils to show for it. Evie’s childhood was _go and fight for me. _It was _sell your body for me. _It was agonising potions and pain if she refused. Death and dead daughters was nothing to the Evil Queen after all. Especially with the enchanted mirror in her hand pushing her on and on because she was _still not the fairest of them all._

They somehow thought that Carlos would be safe with Cruella De Vil, but how could he ever be? For Cruella would always delight in the torture of small creatures. What was Carlos but a small thing ready to hit and hurt? Power was power after all. Over anything was better than nothing at all. Without dogs to hunt, skin and wear as coats, Cruella lashed out every chance Carlos failed to appease her. Like he was no more than a disobedient dog underfoot.

Cruella was on Maleficent’s side of the isle, she’d made some strange allegiance with her and the Evil Queen before any of them were born. She was almost totally insane, dancing with madness always. Half here and half there, not truly with it no matter what was happening. She didn’t notice when Carlos slipped out for long periods of time, his home in their hideout more safe and secure that the tiny room that was his in the keep of his mother. When she wasn’t barking orders at him, she barely noticed he was there.

Cruella’s deal with Maleficent, whatever it was that gave her safe passage on her half of the isle…found all manner of Maleficent’s enemies locked in a dark room of her house. Mal didn’t ask, Carlos didn’t either. Carlos, like Evie and Jay were given into Maleficent’s service by their parents. To join Mal’s gang to bleed, break and win her new territory. And in exchange everyone who displeased Maleficent… found themselves surely and insanely in Cruella’s clutches. No dogs on the isle. But men. Plenty of men. They never spoke about it. The blood that seeped into the floorboards of the _one room _in Cruella’s house. It crept under the door, dark and deadly and a warning. Whatever slight _problem _that had occurred between Maleficent and some merchant would be solved within the night. Screaming and soiled and solved.

By some grace of some nameless god, Carlos at least had always been spared this fate. It was like he was almost invisible to his mother at times. He did chores, he went away to fight… but when she looked at him, she seemed to look past him. Like he was a figment of her imagination. She’d hit him sure, throw a slap and a snarl… but he was never locked in that place. Probably didn’t think a spectre could be half skinned alive. Besides, the spectre was useful. It did her washing, cleaned the house… and kept out of her way.

Carlos never spoke about it. That room. Carlos’s childhood was a baby being treated like nothing more than a dog underfoot. Carlos’s childhood was _sit _and _kneel _and _obey. _It was looking up at his mother and seeing nothing kind in her face, seeing nothing of his own face in hers. It was like he wasn’t quite there for her. Just some strange figment of the insanity that plagued her.

The only time any clarity seemed to come back to her was when blood dripped off her fingers. It lit back up that horrible spark in her eyes. Knives deep in people flesh as she took what she wanted and gave nothing back. Carlos’s childhood was mopping up blood from a room that held more horrors than any child should ever see. Carlos’s childhood was running in a war gang and learning to enjoy it, because anything was better than returning home to that leaking house with screams echoing through the walls. He ran with them all over the isle, and one day when they clawed a hideout, hidden in a forgotten spit of territory, he never went back.

They somehow thought Jay would be free from his desire to own everything. But Jafar’s cruel, controlling nature had not stopped between the borders of the isle. Jay was a thief under his father’s service, to claw whatever Jafar wanted from the little everyone had. Jay was the fingers that stole the wars his father’s shop greedily resold. He was the hulking figure in the shop protecting all would be thieves, the original owners from taking back what was theirs. It was always better to come home bruised and bleeding with what Jafar wanted, lest Jay faced him empty handed.

When Jafar saw something that caught his eye, that glimmered and shone, it started the dark song back up in his blood. He would not stop, he would not let Jay stop, until he held it in his hands. He had destroyed a whole kingdom because he could not get its princess to bow before him and declare her love. He had asked for all the magic in the world to bind to his bones and used it to rip that kingdom apart.

He had asked, the genie had answered and he had become more than any human had been before. He hadn’t been sated by even that. He’d wanted to burn the world when he had been tricked by Aladdin into becoming a genie himself. For one, glorious moment Jafar had been the most powerful being in the cosmos…before golden manacles found their way onto his wrists and trapped him in that lamp.

It had almost… almost been a mercy being shunted onto the isle. He was no longer trapped in the lamp…but he was still trapped. All the magic he had wished for buzzed and hummed on the other side of that barrier. The manacles would never come off, not ever. But on the isle at least he was free of that lamp, he was human once again. If he ever stepped foot off, he would be forced back into an even smaller prison.

But still, Jafar never learned. He always wanted more, even on the isle. He used Jay as a weapon to get anything he wanted. To reclaim just a speck of the power he’d had once. He’d held a sun in the palm of his hands once… and he yearned to have that power again. He was a mirage of what had been by once, he hoarded all the treasures he could find on the Isle of the lost instead. Jay’s childhood was _you are not enough. This is not enough. _Jay’s childhood was_ get me more and more and more. _Jay was always stealing, always getting hurt. Always giving everything he had so that his father could hold riches in his hands.

Family day left its claws in them. Reminded them once again that they could not belong here. Even if they wanted to… the people of Auradon, the old heroes, they would never allow it.

The coronation came so soon after they arrived, but even those first few days of true peace had left deep imprints on Mal and the other kids bones.

Here they were safe. Sure classes were a bit boring… but what was a bit of boredom compared to the terrifying thrills of living on the isle? There was no time on the isle for quiet study or collective discussions on history or literature. All the isle was, was a dog eat dog world. There was real food here. And the kids, judgemental as they were, still got to grow up with enough meat on their bones and enough time to explore sport or art or whatever else made them happy.

But the isle kids had to do as they were told. With tight lips and angry eyes they crafted that love potion and poisoned the boy who had been their only salvation. The only one to look at them and smile, extend a hand of friendship and let them off the isle.

Mal’s words tasted like ashes in her mouth as she professed her love for him too, seeing that magic spell in his eyes hypnotising him into loving her. She felt something like guilt twist and twist between her ribs.

She didn’t realise that the spell broke the second he touched the enchanted waters of the lake. That he surfaced from the depths and broke the surface and saw the world again with his own vision.

But with his own eyes, he stared at Mal, who believed she was unobserved. He saw the truest turmoil on her face, the painful wreck of hard, heavy choices. He saw the way she was sitting, one leg in the water, watching her reflection ripple and distort. He saw how she looked at herself, with nothing but disgust in her eyes.

For Mal looked into the water and saw only Maleficent staring back. For here she was, manipulating the only person who had trusted them, the only person who had expected better from them. Because she _had _to obey her mother’s commands. Seventeen years of being under someone’s violent thumb wasn’t easy to shake, even when presented with a brand new life on the other side of an impenetrable barrier.

But he could see it in her eyes, the guilt. The shame. The fear of what would happen if she didn’t continue this path before her. She looked away from the food Ben had brought them in his love potion induced fervour, because she couldn’t bear it.

He watched her, and saw the pain that the isle had caused her. And he felt his commit grow ever more, to make _sure_ these isle kids were looked after. Whatever had prompted her to give him that love potion, it was because she believed that she had no other choice. Unobserved and hidden from behind the rocky outcrop he was peeking behind, he suddenly saw Mal look out across the water with nothing but panic in her eyes.

“Ben?” Mal said at once, looking all around the lake and frowning when she didn’t spot him. “Ben!?” She shouted, he could hear the panic creeping into her voice.

Mal saw nothing and heard only silence in reply. She felt her heart stop dead in her chest, it had been long minutes since she last saw him. Since she saw him duck his head under the water. He was probably in trouble, he was probably clawing at the light trying to surface. He was probably _drowning _as she waited on the shore.

Mal flung herself forward into the lake. Her breath coming fast and scared. He couldn’t _drown!_ Her boots pushed off stones and her arms desperately clawed at the water before her as she surged to where she had seen him last.

_“Ben!” _She shouted again, “Ben are you ok!? Come back! Please!”

But with one last kick off the stony floor of the lake, the rocks were far below her and she was thrust out into the deep waters of the lake. There was nothing below her to keep her up. Mal tried to claw forward anyway, but the water didn’t seem to hold up her body like it clearly held up Ben. Mal felt the water rising and surging around her and she spluttered as it went all up her face. “Ben!” Mal managed one last drowning shout of his name, before her movements were reduced to panicked, violent attempts to tread water. It went up her nose as she failed to keep her head above the waterline.

But as the water surged over her head, threatened to flow into her spluttering mouth, strong arms surged up below her and she was carried to safety in Ben’s arms. Ben kicked hard off the rocky floor of the lake and scooped the drowning teenager into his arms. He was shocked beyond all measure.

_Mal couldn’t swim._

Ben carried her back to the picnic, utterly astonished. He pulled his jacket off a nearby rock at once and draped it round Mal’s soaking, shivering body. She was glaring at him, hard.

“What was _that!”_ She said in an annoyed voice, but Ben heard the fear in it. “You almost drowned! What were you possibly doing under water that long, looking for triton’s trident for god’s sake?!”

Ben could only splutter out “No! Of course not, besides what were _you _doing! You live on an island!”

Mal’s glare hardened, “Which we can _never leave. _Of course I don’t know how to swim! There are magic barriers remember? Besides,” she muttered into his jacket, “Ursula controls the sea on the isle. The best way to get hunted down by her daughter is to dare step foot in it. I’m a sensible person Ben! I’m not going to risk being beaten up by a bunch of pirates just to badly learn how to swim.”

Ben could only stare in shock. Mal moved on pretty quickly, she picked up some of the strawberries she’d abandoned earlier and started eating them like nothing was wrong. Like Ben hadn’t just been almost saved from ‘drowning’ by a kid who couldn’t swim.

It’s all Ben could think about as they sat there, drying in the sun. Mal couldn’t swim. She lived on an island… but she was right, it was surrounded by barriers. Where would they even swim too? Not to mention the whole… territory thing. Ben felt something stab at his heart. Mal hadn’t ever had a strawberry before. Nor eaten a donut, or swan, or had this much food in her life. Mal had never been this safe before, been this consistently warm… never not had to worry about her gang and their territory and her mother…

It gave Ben a splitting headache just thinking about it. He was right about her. They were _good _kids. This proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Mal couldn’t swim… yet she had tried to save him anyway. She had gone into those dark waters, not knowing what to do the second her feet couldn’t touch the bottom. But she had surged forward anyway, propelled by something – propelled by some _good force _inside her to help Ben.

After all, what was the essence of being good but putting someone else’s needs first? Mal had jumped in unthinkingly and unequivocally to help someone who historically, had been her greatest enemy.

Mal had put her safety last when she was trying to rescue Ben, the seasoned swimmer. She didn’t know one stroke for her own survival. Here was someone raised in the worst place imaginable, with a true monster for a mother, and _still _she had a spark of great goodness in her. Despite all that she had been through, Mal still had the ability to listen to what her heart was telling her. To act on impulse to save lives. To truly want to help others, despite growing up with an island of people who had crushed that instinct long, long ago.

They shivered on the stones, strawberries all around them, and Ben felt sure in his heart, the way he felt about things sometimes, that this girl before him with the sad green eyes and bright blazing purple hair… was not evil. Not at all. She’d been born on the isle of the lost… but she didn’t belong there. None of the kids had earned their place inside that prison. They thought they had, because of what they had done to survive. Ben could feel it. The war inside her. Her resolve to do as she was told. To obey her mother and follow orders instead of following her heart. Mal had seventeen years’ worth of fear, threats, sharp teeth and Maleficent’s magical eyes that told her bowing was the only safe way forward. Mal had survived each day by being the daughter Maleficent hadn’t killed, by doing as she was told, by being who she must.

Ben knew she had put a love potion on him for a reason, a reason that very much had to do with the coronation. Mal had to be up there by his side, and Ben was going to let her. Who knew how things would play out, what Mal was expecting up on that dais. But somehow Ben still trusted her, he saw that conflict in her eyes, saw those dark storm clouds of doubt. But he also saw how she had started to relax here, started to take food without hesitating and getting used to the lack of physical danger… the lack of Maleficent herself. He would let it play out… see what side she choose in the end. He had faith.

After all, Ben tried to imagine it, what he would be like if he had grown up over there on the isle. He had grown up the crown prince in a palace in a land full of heroes who adored him. He had always had enough to eat, shelter and warm clothes. He had been surrounded by friends and family and people who loved him. He had grown up kind and trusting and strong because nothing had ever happened to him that had made him doubt the kindness and trustworthiness of the people around him.

But Mal… Mal had been raised with none of that. Babies on the isle raised solely to become their parents subordinates and pieces on the chess board. Mal had been raised on an island where not even parents could be counted on to love their children.

He would not stop them. He would let them choose.

The plan was in place. Mal held the king in a love spell just so she could stand on that dais and take the wand at the moment of Ben’s coronation. How cruel and how fitting that the only person to trust them, would get the most important moment of his life ruined from that trust. What could be more isle like of them than that. Back stabbing. Betraying. Not letting a single beautiful thing go by unmarred. Using every and all things as an opportunity to get ahead, to get what you want.

The day of the coronation arrived, and with it Mal made sure to bring the love potion antidote. She couldn’t bear it, that the king who had given them a chance would still be in love with her when her mother started to burn his whole world into ash.

Mal felt her heart heavy in her chest, she felt _so much _inside her. All her emotions vying and wrestling to be heard the loudest.

No more than a whisper, a tiny sliver and trickle from the back of her mind did Mal let herself think, _I like it much better here in Auradon. _

It was so much better here. There was food and a bright, unburdened sky. There were no barriers keeping their magic away, locking them on one spot of haunted soil in the middle of the ocean. Their dorm room was safe and warm and had endless hot water. They didn’t have to dress for war every day. Not every outfit or piece of clothing had to be as stab resistant as possible.

And even quieter than all that objective truth, another voice rang out. So tentative. So uncertain. Something she had barely let herself feel or think or believe at all.

_I feel safe on this side of the barrier. Safe away from Maleficent. _

The four of them dressed for the coronation in silence. Mal let herself watch the others from the corners of her eyes as they do their hair and fix their clothes into place.

There was a weight in the air. A knowledge true and crushing that after today they could never go back. This place that they had finally started to relax into, this strange life of high school and food and warmth was soon to be totally destroyed by their vengeful parents.

Those villains they had come face to face with in the hall of villains wanted to continue the bloodshed that they had been cast out for in the first place. Finally able to connect with the deep and terrible powers in their blood that let them bend such horrible curses to their will. Such pain and death… such blinding agony was promised the second that barrier came down.

They had only had this peace for a few short weeks. Some part of Mal wished that the coronation had been months away. That they could have more time here like this together. They had been free, at last.

Free.

She wished that the choice had been taken from them totally, that the wand wouldn’t be used until next year or next summer. Anything to buy her just a little bit more time. Time their parents couldn’t possibly punish them for, they couldn’t possibly control the schedule of the coronation after all.

But here they were. The morning of the coronation. After nothing but a few short, blissful weeks away from the isle and their parents.

Mal couldn’t help how her hands started to shake as she zipped up her dress as far as she could manage. Today was the day. No going back. Evie’s fingers wrapped around hers, and pulled the zip all the way to the top in silence. Their eyes met in the mirror. Evie’s were filled with sadness and she brushed away a tear as she withdrew her hands from Mal’s pale back.

Mal couldn’t stop herself, reaching for Evie’s hand with hers. She didn’t say anything. Couldn’t. She just held her hand close, a silent prayer against what was to come.

Carlos had made dude a tiny suit – or more accurately, he’d asked Evie to make it for him. He held him close, quietly stoking his fur. Pain in his eyes. Mal wasn’t sure what he’d do with dude once their parents arrived. Once the barrier broke and Cruella De Vil saw that dog. They could hide dude somewhere Mal was sure… Maybe Evie could cast a glamour on him, make him look like something else. Something Cruella wouldn’t bother to kill and skin and wear on her back. Hopefully he made it through this in one peace, hopefully he ran far away from the danger even if Carlos was right in the middle of it. Mal doubted it though, dogs were loyal. It just might be the thing to get him killed.

Jay buttoned his suit, and pulled his hair back into a perfect bun. The last perfect thing on the last perfect morning. He couldn’t help but look at the tourney trophy proudly displayed on his desk. At the bright yellow and blue tourney jumper he had earned after making a spot on that team. A team where running was fun. Where it wasn’t in fear or danger. It was for the thrill of being alive and the solid players around him that he could count on to catch the ball. It was about Carlos, holding a shield practically bigger than himself with pride. Slowly but surely standing his ground in the face of oncoming players and the speedy little ball.

They had been living in peace here. There was no threat of true violence. Anything that happened in tourney was in good spirits or by accident. It wasn’t malicious… it was fun. But not after today. It would go back to danger. Running away from it, running towards it. Back to being subservient to his father and Maleficent…He would not among equals again. 

Evie was in the nicest dress Mal had ever seen her in. It was easy to create beautiful things in Auradon. There was so much to use, so much fabric and time and beauty. Her dress didn’t need to be knife proof or warm… it was just for today. The last day before what was sure to be a brutal conquest of Auradon. Evie would return to her Isle clothes after today. The beautiful dress she had made was her way of saying goodbye. Goodbye to what could have been. It was in that spirit that Evie had made all their clothes today, a farewell. A piece of the dream that could have been. She hadn’t meant to, it had just poured from her fingers that way. She made Mal a perfect purple dress that matches her hair and made her eyes _sing. _One last, beautiful moment. Evie would make sure they had that. Just one more.

Let their parents believe they were looking at children just simply trying to blend in to the finery of the coronation. They’d assume they did it just to get close to the dais. They will never tell them that this was their goodbye. That they were leaving something they would miss. Even if they didn’t dare to say it aloud.

Something broke right open in Mal’s heart in that fateful carriage ride to the coronation. As Ben revealed to her that he knew that she had spelled him. That the spell had broken the very next day at the enchanted lake. He didn’t profess his love, but he took her hand in his and said, “I trust you Mal. And I know, in my heart, that you are not your mother. You are not Maleficent.” His eyes were nothing but sincere, “I hope you know you are not Maleficent too. You can have a life here, all your own. It’s your choice.”

Mal’s breath had hitched in her chest. She could not believe what she had heard. What this meant. That he had known that she had spelled him from the start and yet… done nothing to stop it. He had gotten out of the sparkling, enchanted lake and saw her again in his own eyes and _damn him_ he had decided to keep trusting them. To keep trusting Mal, in a world where Mal did not think she had done a single thing to earn his trust.

“I trust you Mal.” Was the last thing he said to her before he ascended those steps, towards his destiny and his doom. He didn’t look back. He walked with such confidence, such a faith in her and her choices that it was as though Mal felt something break in her bones.

Despite it all, despite all that had been done, all that she had survived on the isle, what she had to become to live… here was someone who understood exactly the position she was in. Who extended a hand across the barrier to let them cross knowing full well what plans they might bring with them. What schemes and vengeance their parents might have laid across their shoulders with bitingly sharp nails. He didn’t blame her for her parents schemes, for the fact that his coronation might be the start of the next war. He just walked in, head held high. _I trust you, Mal. _

And it gave her hope. For the first time in her life. Of a different future. Of a better world. If this king existed and still believed in the good in her. In her heart, that she would make the right choice… that maybe it could be different. That just maybe this journey didn’t only have one ending, one sure-fire place it would end up. Maybe these steps up to the dais didn’t have to end in a roaring new conquest and a vengeful Maleficent interrupting and ruining another celebration held by royalty.

Mal walked up those steps behind him. Her face not betraying anything, fully aware that this would be broadcast even to the isle. That Maleficent would be watching on tenterhooks. Waiting for Mal to make her move.

She glanced up at her friends.

At Evie.

Mal may not have fallen in love with Ben, she felt nothing but a deep well of trust and friendship growing between them. That spell had only lasted a day before it was broken, and Ben saw her again with his own eyes. As a friend and nothing more.

But there was another love she had not yet let herself act on. Not on the isle, where all things that glittered and shone were only used against you. Where any love, shown to the world, to the prisoners on the isle, was only showing everyone who to hurt to make you kneel.

She had refused to give her mother that power – not wholly. She had lied, claiming her trust in Evie, her irreplaceable faith was all part of Evie being second in command. Pretending not to feel the sparks between their fingers. Evie ignored them as well. They shared the same, sad, knowing look across the war-torn territories that had as many eyes and spies as there was people in the streets. _It is not safe. Not here. _

But still, they had done so much for each other on that island. Saved each other more times than they could ever count. So many scars ripping across their skin. So many tight stitches across open wounds that they could only trust each other to sew up shut.

It was different between her and Evie… it had always been different. There was something unspoken in the air between them always. A peace. A home. A heart. If Jay and Carlos noticed they had better sense than to ever talk about it aloud.

Even here, these short few weeks in Auradon, Mal had not let herself act on it. Because a dream was all it was, this peace and bliss was only for a little while. Only for a few short weeks. She hadn’t let herself fall into it, be lulled into a false sense of what life could be like. If they were truly free.

They could have had something here. They could have been something more. If only they had more time.

Mal knows that with the only certainty left in her heart.

She heard Ben’s words echoing in her head as she ascended the last of the stairs,

_I trust you. _

_You are not Maleficent. _

_I hope you know you are not Maleficent too. _

Mal didn’t know what she believed any more.

The barrier was ripped open, so quickly and fast Mal didn’t realise that is what had happened until Maleficent appeared before them on the dais.

That dark seed had festered in Jane until it consumed her. Until all she could see as Ben knelt and her mother pulled that ancient, powerful wand from its glass tomb, was her rightful inheritance. The magic and birthright she had been denied by her own mother.

“If you won’t make me beautiful,” Jane had shouted as she wrestled with the overwhelming power of the wand. It hardly controllable - just like Mal’s magic when she had crossed the barrier from the isle of the lost. “_Then I’ll do it myself!”_

The magic wand sparked insanely powerful _raw _magic. Fuelled and funnelled by Jane’s rage and desire to break the mortal restraints her mother had enforced upon her, her whole life.

“Bippity, boppity, _boo!” _ Jane jerked the wand violently, her voice raw, full of pain and determination. A shout into an endless abyss if there ever was one.

A huge arch of light and magic shot from the wand, barely missing the high up members of the audience as it disappeared, cracking a hole in the ceiling and shooting across the sky.

Mal didn’t know then, what it had done. Who it had unleashed.

Mal didn’t even stop to think, stop to considerer. All she was thinking about was containing that great destructive force. All she wanted was for Jane to _let go of the wand. _

And then.

Mal had the wand in her hands.

And everyone seemed to realise it at once. In the same heartbeat. About just who exactly now held an object of unlimited magical potential. What she could do with it.

It seemed their trust in her only went so far, at just how quickly their bodies all went rigid. How they snapped back away from her.

Jane had flipped at once from having all the power in the room to having none of it. She saw Mal before her with deadly green eyes and poisonous purple hair and _the magic wand _in her hand. A whine broke between Jane’s teeth and her eyes were full of fear as she scampered backwards.

Oh, but Mal realised it the second she grabbed it and felt that ancient power connect with hers. All the potential. All the plans. This Is what she had been sent to Auradon for. This wand. To break the barrier once and for all.

She saw the unbridled fear in everyone’s eyes and finally understood a piece of what it must have been like for Maleficent to stand at that christening. With that staff in her hands as she decided just how cruel she could be.

But Mal was not Maleficent and she did not know what to do.

Not at all.

Her friends, her best friends, her only salvation on the miserable isle of the lost were suddenly behind her. Ready to back her up. Ready to fight or run or die with her.

“Your parents made their choice! Now you make yours.” Ben’s voice echoed through the power of the wand in her hands. Spoken like a true king. A boy king with a heavy crown who had seen with his own two eyes just how much the isle kids had suffered. Who had decided come hell or high water he would not take another choice away from them.

He would let them choose. Make their stand. Decide who they truly wanted to be. All the while believing in them, resolute and unfailing, that they would choose the right side. He had walked into his coronation with his head held high, _knowing _that something was going to happen. But the only thing he did to stop it, was to tell a broken girl from an island prison that he _trusted her. _That he _knew _she could do the right thing.

Unthinkably, it was time to choose. Time to decide how life would be. Mal felt an impossible yearning in her chest, one that ached and burned, a wish so strong and powerful all she wanted to do was give into it.

Mal wanted to be _good._

She wanted to stay here on this side of the barrier. She never wanted to go back to that place, that certain hell in which she had been raised. She did not want to kneel again, not before anyone on that gods damned island. Not her mother. Not the Evil Queen. Not a single one of those poisoned, hateful monsters that had used her as a weapon from the first time she could hold a knife in tiny hands.

She wanted _this life. _The life that had made their Auradon counterparts grow up strong and warm and well fed. That gave them the ability to trust easily and with their whole hearts, like Ben and his impossible trust in them all. That they would eventually do the right thing. That they had the ability, no matter where they were from, to follow their hearts. That their hearts might dare to dream of a better, kinder world as well.

Mal wanted to stay here. She wanted to follow her heart and her dreams and find out exactly who she could become outside of a warzone. Outside of the grasp of Maleficent and her wicked hatred.

She lowered the wand. Something broke in her chest as tears threatened to spill down her cheeks and she dared to voice it, “I think I want to be _good_. I want to listen to my heart too.”

Ben smiled at her, the look on his face was that of a shining, proud king. Mal turned to her friends, tears streaming down her face, all the emotions she had been shoving down since arriving in Auradon spilling at last to the surface. Their fearless leader, Maleficent’s daughter, turned to her only friends, the only people aside from the new addition of Ben, that she trusted in the world.

“I can’t - I don’t want this. I don’t want to rule the world with evil. It doesn’t make me happy. It has only ever brought us pain and suffering. I want to stay _here, _in Auradon with you. Us being friends makes me happy, us staying here would make me happy. Ben being our friend, makes me happy.” Mal’s voice cracked, “I choose _good.”_

Fairy godmother looked like she was about to die of pure joy behind them on the dais. She could barely believe it. Remedial goodness_ actually worked. _Something like guilt stabbed at her gut. If that is all it took, just a few short weeks living here, for these kids to throw down all their parents had been making them obey…. They could have gotten them off the isle sooner. Given them a chance long before so many scars settled onto their skin and minds and hearts.

It filled Mal’s heart with all the heat and joy of all the sunshine in the sky as her friends turned to her and, one by one, put their hands on top of hers and said with strong, echoing voices. “I choose good too.”

Mal could barely believe the look on Evie’s face. The unbridled pride and joy. It was like she was hoping this was the path Mal would take. There was not a hint of fear there or reservation. Just shining, absolute happiness. Tears lined Evie’s eyes, and Mal couldn’t help but wipe them away. Mal’s hand was shaking as she lowered it. Not seeing anything in the room at all but Evie’s eyes staring right back into hers. Somehow Mal knew exactly what she meant.

_We could be something here. _

Mal felt like her heart might just explode. That secret wish, that secret desire finally free. Finally somewhere in the remote realm of possibility. It is with more feelings and more _hope _than Mal thought she could ever feel in her heart, that her shaking fingers wrapped around Evie’s.

Evie pulled her closer by her side, their fingers sparking and humming and _together at last. _Jay and Carlos couldn’t help the grins that split their faces in two as they watched. As they realised what unspoken thing Mal and Evie have finally let come to life between them.

Jay and Carlos barrelled into them and scooped them into a hug. All four of them, something settling in the air. A release of tension. A peace. A decision.

_I choose to be good. _

Mal opened the hug back up and beckoned to Ben, his face shining with unshed tears too. “Thank you.”Mal whispered, the hug tight and warm and free at last. Ben only grinned back.

“I barely did anything. You did it all yourselves. I just asked you to choose_.”_

Mal cracked a weak smile at him. But she was only seconds into her new life. Moments into shouldering her new resolution, _hope _and desire to be good - when the world shifted beneath her feet again. 

Mal felt her heart stop dead in her chest as with a resounding _crack _of magic and dizzyingly bright green magic, Maleficent appeared at the dais. With nothing short of a terrifying wicked jubilance had screamed, “_I’m back!” _

And all Mal could think was,

_How can you be here? I chose good! _

Maleficent had not yet realised that it hadn’t been her daughter to break the barrier at all. It hadn’t been clear on the screen. They had only seen someone grab the wand and felt the barrier crack around them.

Mal hadn’t realised it then. In those seconds when Jane had held the wand that when the huge arch of light and magic that had shot into the sky – it had exploded into the barrier on the isle of the lost. Breaking a hole in its infallible enchantments big enough for Maleficent’s magic to return to her and break free from her prison.

Maleficent was smiling with absolute unrestrained maniacal happiness, breathing in all the power that had coming flooding back to her bones. She grinned down at her daughter and said,

_“Give me the wand.”_

Ready to start the revenge she had been dreaming of for 20 years.

And then Mal did the unthinkable.

For the first time in her life, she truly, outright and completely, defied her mother. She had danced with insubordination before, spoken back with bared teeth and violent eyes. She had taken her time to kneel or done things not the way Maleficent had ordered. She had protected her friends at great cost, she had taken the blame. Taken the punishment. But she always paid the price. Maleficent’s hands fast and strong hitting her right across the face, her rings always cutting deep and sharp.

But not this time. Mal would not kneel again.

But her mother was smiling at her, truly smiling at her for the first time _ever. _Her eyes were full of pride as she beheld her child. Mal who had broken her free, who had broken the streak of 20 magicless years.

It made a part of Mal’s heart sing, that smile. That reward she had always aimed for. That crowning glory, that achievement that pushed her on and on. Because the isle was always _you are not good enough, this is not good enough._ And pain and pain and more pain again as a reward. But here. Now. Mal had done it. And just for a moment, just for a second… Mal was tempted. Tempted to keep that pride on her mother’s face because _finally, _something Mal had done had _finally worked. _

She was good enough at last.

But Mal felt Evie’s fingers tangled in her own. She felt the tiny tug. The tiny reminder. _That is not who you are. _Her hand in hers, a reminder of, _we can be free here. _

And Ben’s voice, echoing too,

_You are not Maleficent. I hope you know you are not Maleficent too. _

Mal didn’t know who she was. Who she could be. But she did know one thing, _finally, _to the very depths of her soul the words rang true and steady.

_I don’t want to be like Maleficent. _

And Mal took a deep breath and remembered that she wanted to be free, more than anything else. She wanted to be safe and happy and unharmed. She didn’t want any more scars or knife wounds or pain. She didn’t want to inflict that on anyone else as well. She didn’t want to let her mother loose onto these people. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t let her hurt anyone else again.

“No.”

And she threw the wand to Fairy Godmother instead. Her mother’s face twisting in surprise at the betrayal. Her eyes glowing and gleaming and _burning _with anger.

“Bippity, boppity- ” Fairy Godmother waved her wand as fast as she could, her words half strangled out of fear, out of desperation. She needed to be _as quick as she could - _

But it was too late, too little, and with a truly scary grin that sent shivers down Mal’s spine, Maleficent slammed her sceptre onto the floor before Fairy Godmother could finish.

“_Boo.”_

Her voice promised pain. Was an echoing haunting bell of _soon, soon, soon. _

Green magic exploded from the base of her staff and every single person in the throne room froze apart from Mal and her friends.

Audrey was in the audience. So close to the nightmare that was unfolding. Finally seeing the dark fairy that had cursed her mother for the first time in her life. Slowly, horrifyingly, she felt a part of her heart start to understand just what it must have been like for Mal and the others to grow up on the isle.

This was the real Maleficent before her. Not the small seventeen year old that had the misfortune of being her daughter.

Oh and how watching that dark cold grin on Maleficent’s face made Audrey’s blood run cold. This dark fairy was truly the one responsible for the endless misfortune that had been cast upon Audrey’s family… not the kid Audrey had been blaming all these weeks.

Maleficent was truly terrifying. She had used her magic to freeze all the kingdom but her daughter and her friends, a mockery of the spell that had once cast Audrey’s whole family into an endless sleep. They all stood frozen, unable to help, but cursed to watch every last detail of what was unfolding before them.

True fear permeated every inch of Audrey’s body, as she beheld a scene so similar to what it must have been like all those decades ago. When Maleficent had appeared for her mother’s christening and her grandmother had to watch, utterly defenceless, as Maleficent cursed her daughter.

_What would Maleficent curse this time?_

Maleficent was full of that same, unending rage, that cruelty, that hate. All out of spite. All in some petty need for revenged dialled up and up until it was uncontrollable.

Because Mal had said _no_. She had thrown that wand to the only person she thought could help, could stop her mother’s dark and terrifying power. But it had not worked.

And now Maleficent turned her cold, cruel eyes back to Mal. No longer shining with pride. No longer smiling. To the only four people in the room who could move. This was between Maleficent and her daughter and those her daughter held dearest of all.

Then Maleficent noticed just who Mal was holding hands with. How close they stood. Just what it might mean.

Her own daughter, “_so weak.” _ She snarled. “Love is weakness! Falling in love is _weak_ and _ridiculous_.” And then, just a glimmer of it, a strange horrible olive branch, “it is not what you want!” Maleficent’s voice was commanding but strangely, giving Mal a chance to come back. To choose to burn the world with her side by side.

Mal felt tears well up hot in her eyes. “You don’t know what I want! You don’t know me at all mother! I am not you, I am not Maleficent, I am not some dark fairy hellbent on evil!”

Surprising Mal more than she could ever say, Maleficent simply rolled her eyes and _agreed _with her. There was still that undercurrent of biting steel, of danger.

“Well _obviously _you’re not me,” Maleficent snarled, strangely understanding. “I’ve had _years _of practice!” She waved her hands around them like it was obvious. Like that was the part that Mal was missing. Just time to get used to it. Maleficent reached out a hand, beckoning her daughter, “you will get there!”

Mal couldn’t help the horrified look that split across her face. A horrible stabbing feeling in her gut as she realised for the first time… that Maleficent might not always have been this way. That she might have been _made _this way. Slowly crushing that voice inside her heart until there was nothing good or kind left to listen to at all. The way she was speaking to Mal, crazily, seemed like she knew exactly what Mal was feeling. The turmoil - that maybe Maleficent had felt once too.

But Mal stood strong and did not waiver. “No,” Mal said again, “No I will not.” Mal felt her voice break as she continued, “and I really wish you had never gotten there yourself. Love is _not _weak or ridiculous,” Mal’s hand only clutched Evie’s tighter in her grip. “it’s actually _amazing!”_

If this was the last stand she would make, at least she is doing it finally holding hands with the girl who held her heart. With the boys around her that meant _family, love _and _home. _

That at last breaks the last speck of restraint in Maleficent’s eyes. Her daughter had defied her twice – _in front of the world no less. _There would be no mercy now. No going back. Her daughter had chosen her side, and now it was time for Maleficent to choose hers. Unyielding.

She snarled at Mal, pointing the wand right at her daughter. The wand of unlimited, raw, insane magic and said, “you have _no room for love in your life! ” _There was no was no hesitation in her actions, that wand like a knife to Mal’s throat.

This would be the end. This last stand. Mal and her friends would be the first casualties of Auradon’s demise. Of the sacking of this kingdom and all the cities in its realm. Mal’s name would be the first, on the new plaque for the dead. If anyone good ever survived long enough to build a new monument. Mal hopes that they do. Some day. Remember where she and her friends stood on this side of history.

Mal summoned every speck of magic she had in her bones, that dragon she had inside her too, and with every last bit of hope she had, with all the love her heart had managed to protect _all those years, _she shouted,

“And now I command, _wand to my hand!”_

The wand was ripped out of her mother’s hands by a force so powerful it sent Mal staggering back as the wand sunk into her palm.

She could barely believe her eyes as she beheld it, “it worked?” she gasped, her breath ragged.

Oh but Maleficent wasn’t going to let _that _stand. Cold fury filled her eyes, all pretence of calm vanished. Spittle flew from the corners of her mouth as she screamed at her daughter, snarling and vicious with sharp teeth and unending anger.

_“I hardly think so - _”she growled, “this is _tedious_ and _immature_. Give me the wand,” her hands flung in her fury, beckoning for it. Her hands curled and coiled with power, “_give me the wand!”_

Audrey felt her heart drop in her chest from where she stood, unable to move. Maleficent was terrifying. The way she talked to Mal with sharp and demanding words that had never left any room for Mal to say “_no, I won’t.” _

The way her eyes burned green and how Mal flinched back with every half step forward her mother took. Audrey won’t forget that hitch in Mal’s chest for as long as she lives, the true fear in Mal’s eyes as her mother stands before her. And the empty, cold, rage in which Maleficent had screamed at Mal to _give her the wand. _

But Mal did not back down. Her eyes were like steel. Strong and resolute and unflinching. She was ready for whatever horror Maleficent would unleash. She would stand her ground. No matter what happened, she would not break. She would not be afraid.

Mal looked every inch like a _good _fairy, holding that magic wand high up in defiance against the dark, shrouded figure that was her mother. They could not have looked more opposite despite having the same green eyes.

And finally, Maleficent turned away in rage. Every cold and hateful part of her shining through her eyes, all of it – every last scrap of it directed towards her daughter, who _dared _to turn against her.

“You will regret this!‘’ She screamed, and Mal had no doubt that she would. That the pain to come would be brutal. Unending. But she would endure. For the sake of her friends and Ben’s kingdom.

Maleficent let the magic pour out of her as she had been unable to do for twenty years. And just like in the fairy tale, in the nightmares that haunted Audrey’s grandmother, the room filled with thick, green magic. And out of that magic, that shroud of green smoke, a huge dragon had unfurled its wings.

Mal saw her mother, the dragon, and knew the soul that had stared out of her mother’s eyes in this terrifying creature before her. It was this dragon that had hid in the shadow of Maleficent’s smile, in the sharpness of her teeth, in her deadly grin. In the knowledge sure and horrifying that pain would come to those who betrayed her. When Mal betrayed her.

She had seen but a shade of it on the isle, knives and hands tight upon her skin. That angry face with gleaming hateful eyes always bending her to her will. Oh Mal had bled on the isle. She had hurt.

But this dragon wasn’t going to leave a single part of her alive. Death incarnate turned on its own daughter.

Mal saw every promise and threat her mother had ever made should Mal ever betray her, written in the dragon’s sharp teeth and huge claws. She saw her own death before her, just like Maleficent had always threatened, just as Mal had always feared. The thing first and last that kept Mal in line and bound her to her mother’s will.

On the island Maleficent had been unable to become this final, perfect form. She had promised Mal death in other ways. But this was strangely fitting. That the true body of her mother would kill her. The true soul and heart. Her mother’s temper had never been able to reach into herself, into her magic and put on this skin. She had been unable to use this most horrifying punishment before. And now at the height of her daughters betrayal, Maleficent would not hold anything back.

Audrey watched the dragon, huge and terrifying, flap it’s wings and raise into the air and saw the tiny figure that was Mal standing strong before it. This is what Mal had lived with her whole life long. Aurora might have suffered under Maleficent’s hand, but she had been raised in an enchanted forest by kindly fairies. It was only after sixteen years of hiding that the curse came true.

All the curse had been to Aurora was a moment of sleep before waking up to the prince that had banished Maleficent to the isle of the lost. But Mal… Mal had been stuck with that monster as her mother her whole life long. She had seventeen years’ worth of pain in her bones, no enchanted forest to hide in and no kindly fairies to keep her safe.

Mal stumbled back as her worst fears came to life, and the dragon that had almost ripped apart prince Phillip and that kingdom, set its rage upon Mal instead. The whole coronation party saw how Mal did not turn, how she flung herself in front of her friends, ready to defend them with her life.

“Leave my friends alone!” Mal shouted, at the great and terrifying monster that shared her blood. She would stand before them, always. To the very last day, and till the very last breath she took.

Then just like they had on the isle, all those times, all those wrestles for control between two sets of hypnotic, powerful green eyes; the dragon burned its gaze into Mal’s eyes and Mal stared right back. Steam curled from the dragon’s nostrils and its eyes glowed so much, so full of magic and hatred and evil. All against one seventeen year old kid with a life time of knowing those eyes meant the pain they promised if she didn’t back down and surrender.

From the depths of her soul Mal utter a magic spell with all the desperation of creation, “Strength of evil is as good as none when stands before four hearts as one!”

Mal’s hands clutched tight around the magic wand, the good wand of kind things and sweet dreams coming true, and poured her desire for her own happy ending into her words.

A world where she and her friends could live under an unburdened sky. A world of peace and friendship, without pain and agony and new scars ripping across their skin. A world that didn’t end on the shores of an island, with a magical barrier trapping them inside with the words monsters of them all.

“Strength of evil is as good as none when stands before four hearts as one!”

Love fuelled the magic in Mal’s eyes as she said it again, her friends safe and sound behind her. Because Mal had done so much in Maleficent’s name, hurt so many people and been hurt so much herself, but she would not let Maleficent get to her friends. Not ever again. And finally, last of all, with every speck of magic Mal had inside her bones.

“_Strength of evil is as good as none when stands before four hearts as one!”_

Maleficent had disappeared, that great and terrible dragon vanishing in a blindingly bright burst of purple smoke. Mal’s magic. The dragon had disappeared, forced into the bones of a tiny lizard. It’s eyes still burned green with magic, with fury, but it was trapped in the skin of something utterly defenceless.

Audrey had never looked at Mal like that before, never realised that Maleficent would be something to be feared even by her own daughter. It made her think back on what her grandmother had said on family day with her insides squirming with shame. Her Grammy had said “my daughter was raised by fairies because of your mother!”

But because of Audrey’s mother and her whole family, Mal had been raised by fairies too. Not the good, kind fairies that had raised Aurora into a loving, lovely person… but the dark fairy that they had all feared for so long.

Audrey had left the coronation with a new weight upon her shoulders and the uncomfortable position of revaluating exactly what she believed. She had hated Mal for so long. She had known about the isle kids existence for almost as long as she can remember. They are almost the exact same age after all.

Her parent’s, Aurora and Philip had been so happy to welcome their first child and hold Audrey in their arms. Safe and secure in the knowledge that their great tormentor was stuck on an island prison, far away. Unable to hurt them ever again.

How they had seethed then, with anger, when the news trickled into Auradon months later that some of the villains on the isle had themselves, dared to have children. It had felt to them like they were spitting in the face of their great and terrible punishment. Daring to make the isle a home by having children. Creating children to have someone to love them.

They had been blind to the reality. So shrouded by their own hatred. So troubled and angry that Maleficent… their greatest nightmare and bane, had the audacity to have a child. For the isle was a punishment, and to all eyes it seemed the villains flaunting how very little their punishment affected them at all.

But that wasn’t true at all… and Audrey felt a lifetime of judgement slam into her head as for the first time she really realised what being a kid of the isle was like… not whatever she’d invented. They were not the loved and beloved children of monsters…. They were the children of monsters. Pawns. Pieces. Soldiers. Little slaves.

No love lost between them, clearly. Maleficent had turned on her own daughter so quickly. Had been so ready to throw her life away in exchange for the chance to exact her revenge on the people of Auradon.

Audrey could not stop seeing how Mal had flinched as her mother took a step closer to her, her face white with anger. And thought about just what could have conditioned that response in her. What hurt and pain Maleficent might have inflicted on her daughter before. It made Audrey sick to her stomach.

She made sure at the end of the coronation, when the dust had settled and all the people could finally move again, to bow to Mal. Nothing but apologies on the tip of her tongue. Respect gleaming in her eyes.

And to Mal’s eternal credit, she had bowed back. Everyone deserved a second chance. A new beginning.

With Evie’s fingers still in hers, Ben the new King of Auradon, Audrey’s apology warm in her heart, Jay and Carlos beaming with joy, it was the beginning of a new age.

Or so she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> I know chapter one is very much just the first movie with lots of introspection, but coming up next it delves wildly off canon! 
> 
> I love the 2nd and 3rd movies, especially how they all become one gigantic best friend squad at the end – but, I would love to see everyone become friends right off the bat after the coronation! I want Mal to go on a bit of a " Every child must be let off the Isle " rampage. She knows how awful it is there and no one deserves to stay on a garbage island – not even her greatest rivals. 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought!  
I love a good comment. Which bits did you like the most? 
> 
> Subscribe for updates!


	2. Chapter 2

The dust had barely settled in the coronation hall before Mal hunted Ben down and said, “We have to get the other kids off the isle. Uma first. It has to be Uma first.”

Mal had woken up hours and hours after daybreak the day after the coronation. It had taken her a few moments to realise where she was and why she was in the room she had never expected to sleep in again.

She had blearily opened her eyes, her head _pounding, _before she sat up with a jolt as she realised _it was over. _

She was somehow still alive after betraying her mother. She was somehow still here in Auradon. They had broken the barrier yesterday but by some miracle… everything was still ok.

More ok than it had ever been before actually.

But her _head. _It ached. Mal had used every shred of magic she had last night in that last, desperate spell against her mother and she was certainly feeling it now.

But it had been worth it. God had it been worth it.

Mal peered around their room with sleepy eyes, not quite able to believe she was really there.

But there. On the floor, was her coronation dress. In a heap by her bed where Mal had simply stepped out of it before collapsing on her bed. Evie had strewn hers across her desk at least before crawling under her mountains of blankets.

And there Evie was. Still absolutely fast asleep. Her beautiful long blue hair spread across her pillow. She looked so _peaceful. _At last, at last, at last, relaxed.

Mal felt her heart glow inside her chest as she simply stared at her. She had never imagined a future like this. Never let herself believe it would ever be possible. But there Evie was. Safe and sound and free and _right there. _

It was so much to take in, Mal simply collapsed back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Freedom.

What an alien concept.

Mal hadn’t truly let herself relax into life at Auradon Prep. She couldn’t live with the torture of knowing she would have to give it all up soon. So every bite of food she’d eaten, every shower with delightfully hot water, every night she fell asleep in her soft, safe bed she’d thought _don’t get used to it. _She had hardened her heart against loving it. She’d tried to anyway. That quiet hope had still persisted. Had somehow wormed its way into Mal’s heart without her realising it. Enough at least so that when she walked into that coronation she couldn’t bear to give it up. She had danced with death to secure this future. To be safe forever.

But.

Mal’s insides squirmed. She was not the only child from the isle of the lost. Not by far. While Mal was here, safe in Auradon… they were all still there. Stuck on a garbage island. Stuck in a prison with the worst monsters Auradon had ever seen.

How could she enjoy all of this? How could she ever live her whole life here knowing that just a stone’s throw away… were all those kids who were just like her. Who might grow up with the same horrible burdens Mal had. The same painful scars. The same abuse.

Before, when the whole plan had been to break the barrier and rampage vengefully across Auradon, an accidental by-product of that would have been the freedom of the isle kids. It wouldn’t have been to a particularly safe Auradon. Or a good life. But there would be more chances for them. To escape. To disappear. To hide. To run. Without a magical barrier keeping them by their parents sides.

She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

She had hated Auradon her whole life long for leaving her behind. For hearing about the kids born on the isle of the lost and _leaving them there. _It made her bones quake with anger. They had been _babies. _They had been soft and pure and new and unbroken. And they had been left to die. Left to live. Left to ache and burn and bleed.

Mal couldn’t. Mal wouldn’t. How could she ever? How could she leave them there when all she wanted for seventeen years was a chance to escape. For just one chance to stand on soil she hadn’t been born on, lived on and would die on.

Auradon’s heroes had protested Mal and the others arrival. So had the Auradon kids themselves. That had been made clear from the moment Mal and the isle kids had stepped from that limo and been met with glares of distrust. But there was hope, Mal had seen it herself. In Audrey, the last person she would ever have expected. The Princess who belonged the same old tale as Mal. Different sides of the same coin. The daughter of the dark fairy and the daughter of the Princess Aurora.

Audrey had bowed to her, an apology on her lips the moment she had the chance. After she had seen with her own eyes the monster Mal had lived with her whole life long. And Ben, he had always believed in them. From the very first step they took on Auradon soil.

Mal couldn’t sit with herself. Couldn’t lie and wait for a moment longer. She slipped out of bed quietly, not able to bear waking Evie. Let her sleep, let her dream. Let her relax for once under an unburdened sky.

She pulled on her clothes, whatever was lying closest. A hoodie and a pair of ripped up leggings. She left their dorm room quietly as she went to find Ben.

Ben was outside. The whole school was quiet. Everyone seemed to be recovering from the shocking events of the coronation. He was sitting on the grassy knoll. Staring at the water trickling from the fountain. He looked about as deep in thought as Mal had been a few minutes ago.

Mal joined him, sitting beside him on the grass. He fell out of his daydream, and met her with a smile. He was so genuine this boy, Mal could not believe it.

“Hey Ben.”

“Afternoon, Mal.”

Mal met his eyes and he saw the clouds in them. He seemed to understand. He had a similar look on his face. There was a pending weight in the air between them.

“We have to get the other kids off the isle.”

“I agree.” Said Ben. He hesitated, “the isle… the more I learn about it… the more I realise… just how bad it is. I can’t believe they left you there.”

Ben ripped up grass in his hands as he struggled to find the words. “Maleficent… she… The way she treated you yesterday. I – I can’t believe it.” His voice turned hard and he didn’t meet her eyes as he furious ripped up more grass. “My father left you there. With her. He enclosed the barriers around the isle and left it alone for 20 years.”

Mal put a hand over his, stopping his grass massacre. “It’s not your fault, Ben.” She said. She took the grass from his fingers and sprinkled it into the ground before them. “You remembered us. You got us off. If it wasn’t for you…” Mal didn’t finish. She didn’t need to. If it hadn’t been for Ben, no one would have ever left the isle.

“I know…” Said Ben. “I just wish it hadn’t taken so long.”

“Me too.” Said Mal. “We might have spent seventeen years on the isle, but that doesn’t mean anyone else should have to. We can make this count. You and me. Right now. All those little kids Ben… there are so many on the isle. They still have a chance.”

Ben met her eyes. They were hard and unyielding. “Today. We can start today. While the kingdom sleeps and the old heroes of Auradon are distracted.”

“Uma first. It has to be Uma first.”

Ben looked a little surprised. He raised an eyebrow at Mal.

“We may have been rivals, Ben… but that was our parents doing. Not ours. If anyone had a parent as worse as Maleficent, Uma had it with Ursula. I know we did a lot to each other on the isle. But if anyone deserves a chance to be free… if anyone has suffered as much as we did… its Uma for sure.”

Ben nodded, “Uma first.”

The other isle kids understand. There was a proud, shining look on Evie’s face when Mal tells them her plan. Get Uma off first, prove undoubtably isle kids can be good, then get _all _the other kids off the isle too.

It was _because _their parents were Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella that the isle kids had to become some of the most feared and dangerous kids on the block. Mal had been forced to become the most brutal, most unforgiving, unflinching and unwavering over territory specifically _because _Maleficent was her mother. Maleficent had such a little tolerance for failure and not a shred of mercy in her body. When Mal failed… Mal regretted it.

Who, therefore, would know more of what it was like to be Mal than Uma? For Ursula was the unyielding presence who controlled the opposite half of the isle to Maleficent. For Ursula and Maleficent were both all consumed by their desires to rule the isle. For every scrap of magicless soil to belong to them and _only _them.

For Uma’s mother was the downed sea witch Ursula. She who had once tasted all the power of the seas and had the power of a god in her hand with that trident. She who had it all for a brief, shining second, before she was impaled by a ships broken mast and left to live, left to die, on the isle of the lost.

Maleficent once had the world too. Had once had all the power owed in her blood at her fingertips. She who had once become a dragon and sent kingdoms and princesses off to sleep with one tap from her magical sceptre. She had done as she wished once, in a huge keep with endless servants to cower and obey. She had put the fear of god, the fear of fae, into a whole kingdom and had not stopped till everyone feared her name.

Oh how they needed that power back. The both of them. It was worth everything to them and they would use their daughters bodies to get it back. To claw back as much territory from each other as they could. To injure their little gang leader children. To kill them if they could. Strip and steal as much power away from each other. Because being Queen of the isle was still queen of something. Ruling over and island of villains and monsters was better than nothing. Any crown. Any title. All the fear they could inspire, they would. They would do anything, sacrifice any child, threaten and hurt anyone who got in their way.

Uma may have stabbed Mal last, but Mal knew better than anyone that it was a stab or be stabbed world. If Uma hadn’t stabbed Mal, made that ferocious bid for more territory over the markets then Uma would have walked home to a world of pain. Same as Mal. Same as Evie. Same as Jay. Same as Carlos.

It’s why when Mal had been stabbed they’d patched her up as best they could before presenting her to Maleficent as though nothing was wrong. Like the casual arm around Mal’s shoulders was just a comrade thing, not the only thing keeping her upright. As though the market wasn’t covered in Mal’s bloodstains. Like she hadn’t very nearly died in the name of Maleficent.

Uma got a note the very next day, on royal paper no less. But it was Mal’s rough handwriting scribbled across it, signed off by Ben’ fancy signature and a golden seal.

_Uma, _

_I’ve made a deal with the king to bring more isle kids over. _

_I’ve demanded you be offered first place. _

_I’m guessing you’ve seen the coronation footage. They trust us now that I’ve turned against my mother. If anyone had a parent as bad as Maleficent, it was you. It was the consequences of failure that pushed me against you into our constant battles over territory. I’m guessing you had about as much fun returning home empty handed as I did. _

_I know this letter and offer is the last thing you’d ever expect from me. I can’t blame you. I’m not expecting you to trust me. But I am asking you to understand. This is your chance to be free of Ursula and avoid future stabbings. I promise not to stab you again, If you come over to Auradon. I’m not saying we will ever be friends, but I will not be your enemy. I will try and put the past in the past if you do too. _

_Ben said it at the coronation, our parents have made their choice. Now it is time for us to make ours. We are not our parents… and none of us ever deserved the isle of the lost. I don’t want to go back to the isle again Uma. Do you want to be stuck there forever? They have nice food here. And showers. And we get our own rooms. None of us are doing great at the academics but if you fail you don’t get physically punished so there’s that. _

_If you come don’t fuck it up. If you betray me or Ben or Auradon they will never let another kid off the isle again. We need this to work. We had god awful childhoods, let’s not force that on everyone else unfortunate enough to be born there. _

_I’m not saying I trust you. But for once I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you want to leave the isle as badly as I did. Besides you were the last person to stab me and I’ve already promised not to stab you back. You don’t have to retaliate because technically it’s my turn. _

_P.s Fair warning, if you do come, be prepared. Crossing the barrier hurts if you have inherited magic from your parents. _

_Think about it. _

_Mal._

Mal had never expected that one day she would actually have to _listen _in any of her classes at Auradon Prep. None of them had. Mal was used to sitting at the back, not paying attention and doodling across the paper she had been given to take notes she would never need.

But now she was faced with the rather uncomfortable prospect… of actually having to understand what was going on. And it bothered her much more than she would ever admit to any of their shiny, well educated, un-starved Auradon peers, Mal found it _hard. _

Give Mal a knife, a backhand across the face and an ultimatum, “come back with food or don’t come back at all,” and by god Mal would do _whatever it takes _to succeed.

Mal had lived by the laws of “_do as I say and no one gets hurt.” _For as long as she had been alive. It was better, always better, to go do whatever impossible task Maleficent demanded than be saddled with the consequences of failure. Any pain that may come clawing back territory or pushing back the rising masses of Merchants back in line… would always be less horrible than what Maleficent could do to you.

Because getting hurt in a scrap against another terrified kid was at least something Mal could understand. Could predict. Could learn to dodge and attack back. But with Maleficent… there was no understanding that could be found when Mal stared into her cold green eyes. And there never would be.

Maleficent’s eyes had only ever promised pain and death and regret. An echoing emptiness of _obey me or else. _The promise, tried, true and tested of _you will regret it when you fail me. _

There was no winning with Maleficent. No understanding. The hurt that came was in no moment of struggle, no quick desperate act of desire to live. It was all cold. All calculating. All _I said you would regret failing me. _Those scars. They would never truly heal. And those scars, Mal would not be able to forgive.

But there was no one to fight in class. No trade to make of pain and scars for territory. No bloody hands and dark deeds for respect. You were either right or wrong. You either knew what was going on or you didn’t. You either knew what the stupid symbols on the board meant and how they solved to find an answer or you _didn’t. _

And Mal, still at the very back of all her classes, looked ahead to the board, all the rows of happy, unfazed Auradon kids before her and she did _not understand. _

_ _

There is something worse, much worse, than not caring at all. Before the coronation Mal hadn’t even batted an eye at the complex math across the whiteboard. She had simply turned back to her drawings with the thought of _none of this will matter in a few weeks. _But now… Mal actually had to care. Worse than that… she felt a horrible, squirming sense of shame and dread as she sat and struggled at the back, uncomprehending and feeling suddenly, totally, out of her depth.

Because it hadn’t mattered before. In the world where this school would probably have been burnt to ash by her mother. But in this world. It did matter.

Mal had understood how to be on the Isle of the Lost. As terrible and horrible as it was, Mal knew how to survive, regardless of what kind of life it was worth living. She had been _good _at it. Good at doing exactly what she must_. _Good at suffering. Good at starving. Good at leading her gang to war and coming back bruised and blooded to a monster. It had been hard and horrible and had cost her so much. Skin and sanity and happiness. But at least there, she had understood. Each toll. Each cost. Each sacrifice synonymous with victory.

Mal had no idea how to survive here. How to be. Who to be, even. She had thrown away one destiny for herself at the coronation, as she refused to bow before her mother. But she had no idea what strange destiny had taken its place.

She was now in Ben’s kingdom, and she would stay in Ben’s kingdom forever. The rules would never be the isle rules again. It was a new world after all and Mal had to figure out how to live in it.

And Mal was terrified.

One thing Mal couldn’t understand, not that she voiced it, was why _anyone _in Auradon expected Mal and the others to know it at all. They were from the isle! Where and when exactly had Mal ever had the opportunity to learn complex math before? Did they think the wars and violence stopped for a secluded few hours in the day for lessons? Did they think, god forbid, Maleficent had taught her?

As usual, it was basic interactions that left little to no room for doubt, that the people of Auradon had _very alarmingly _false perceptions of life on the isle.

It was like they never stopped truly to think or consider. In the interests of leaving their own culpability and guilt at the door, the best tact when it came to the isle was to give it as little thought as possible. As they had for the last 20 years. It completely explained the genuine lack of remorse or concern when it came to Mal and the others.

It had been like a slap in the face on Family Day. When the parents of Auradon Preps students started at them like they were simply their parents reincarnate. Like death and destruction was all they would want too. As though their parents hadn’t hurt them just as badly as they had treated the people of Auradon.

They were blind here. Totally blind. And it made something twist in Mal’s gut. Something lurch and ache and hurt. It made her feel sick to her bones.

All her life Mal had been trapped on the isle, a short stretch of ocean between her and the very forest that boarded this school. You could _see _the isle from here. All you had to do was climb to the tallest tower and peer across the ocean to the shimmering veil over a rock of garbage. You could see it from the shores of the coastline, from the towns that dotted the sea line. You could see it from the palace. From the balconies. From the keeps windows and walls.

Mal had grown up staring at it all on the distant shore. At the trees so lush and green and _nothing _like the shitty, spindly things that grew on the isle. And as Mal grew up starving and hurting and bleeding, she at least though the people of Auradon _knew _what life they had condemned her too.

But coming here… she had realised that the kids her age at least, didn’t seem to know at all. Whatever they had assumed of the isle was definitely not present in the reality Mal had suffered through for seventeen years. The adults hadn’t told them what the punishment they had _earned _being born had cost them. It was like they had buried the possibility and horror and death and truth so far away, when they looked across at the isle they saw only what they wanted to see.

They saw the place they had trapped their enemies. They saw the price for their safety. They saw their great nobility. The honour and duty that had propelled them into uniting the kingdoms to make a land safe for their children. They cast Mal and the children in with their parents. Named them _guilty too. _Threw away the key and were content to let them die there.

Mal couldn’t believe it.

She may not have wanted Auradon to burn. But she could not forgive them for what they had done. That they had _left _her there. And they never would have gotten her out if it hadn’t been for Ben.

It had only been a few days since the coronation. Plans were in place for Uma to cross the barrier and join Mal and the others at Auradon Prep. Mal felt like she was in the strange calm between two storms. The horror of what had happened at the coronation behind her and the totally unknown storm coming towards her.

She had _no idea _what would happen when Uma arrived. They had spent their whole lives at war with each other. They had never talked properly. Never had the chance. All they had been was their parents weapons, pointed always right at each other’s throats.

But this wasn’t about Mal. It wasn’t about the horrible past between them. This was about doing the _right _thing. Uma didn’t deserve to be trapped on the isle any more than Mal did. Uma may have stabbed Mal a few months ago sure… But Mal had stabbed Uma before too. There was no guilt free party between them. They were both as bad as each other. They had to be, to survive their parents.

It didn’t matter, the personal lightening between the pair of them. The years of hate. That the reflex upon spotting the other person was to grab a knife and _throw it. _This wasn’t about them. This was about the fact that no child deserved to be stuck on the isle for eternity. If Mal got the chance to break free and live in Auradon, then so did _everyone else. _No matter what. No matter what happened that side of the sea.

It was riding on this though. This was truly a test of an isle kids inherent ability to change or not_. _If Uma and Mal could… not kill each other here. If they stopped fighting. If they could coexist peacefully in a school full of unscarred, bright eyed real kids_. _Then that was proof. True proof that Mal and the others were _not _outliers. If Uma behaved, if Uma took this chance as what it was – _a lifeline off the isle, _then there would never again be a real defence for ever again imprisoning children.

If two enemies from different territories on the isle could be different here, then _all _of the kids would have to be let off. And maybe… the people of Auradon would admit they had been wrong about them. Wrong in creating the isle at all. Wrong for not taking them away when they were kids… young enough not to remember. Not yet hurt or scarred.

Uma would be arriving in a few days, all in all, less than a week after the coronation. Classes had only just started back up, apparently the whole kingdom needed a few days to recover from the shock of seeing Maleficent at the coronation.

It had only taken Mal the day and a half of actually _trying _to pay attention in class to realise she was in way over her head. Class was definitely not going to be something that came naturally to her at all. Much like the dragon trapped inside her bones, it was going to have to be something Mal constantly struggled with.

But surprisingly, Mal discovered she _did _enjoy something at Auradon Prep. After the second day of class came to an end and Mal made her way to collapse in her bed out of sheer aggravation, Fairy Godmother pulled her aside. Mal gave Fairy Godmother the _very best _deadpan expression she could summon but she was not deterred. Mal needed to participate in an extracurricular activity, _apparently. _

“It’ll be good for you.” Said Fairy Godmother. “Jay and Carlos are part of the Tourney team,” She listed off, “Evie has sewing – “

“Sewing is _not _an extracurricular!” Mal had said, accidently throwing Evie under the bus as she scrambled for an excuse to get out of whatever activity Fairy Godmother was intent on pushing her towards.

Fairy Godmother gave Mal a stern look in return. “Then who, pray tell – “ Said Fairy Godmother, “made that outfit you are currently wearing? I say, I don’t recall _ever _seeing a shop in Auradon that sells hoodies like _that. _Besides,” she continued, “Evie has agreed to join the fashion club.”

Mal had no reply. Her hoodie had indeed been made from Evie out of a collection of dark grey fabrics and studded up the arms with all sorts of mismatched metal scrap. It was not the sturdy leathers of the isle but It was certainly not like anything an Auradon kid would wear to class.

“Fine.” Mal agreed reluctantly. “But hey – I do stuff in my spare time too. Check out my locker, that’s art.”

At the mention of Mal’s locker vandalism, Fairy Godmother let out a little sigh in between her teeth. It was apparently too hard to convince Mal that her painting her locker violently in green and purple was also _not _counted as an extracurricular activity, because she simply gave Mal another look.

Mal simply shrugged in response. It had at least been worth a shot.

It turned out Fairy Godmothers idea for Mal’s extracurricular was to join Auradon Prep’s girl’s football team. And it turned out, Mal was _good _at it. Soccer was a totally new experience for Mal and while it took her a while to grasp the rules, her fearlessness and unpredictability made her an exceptional and terrifying player.

She still didn’t quite understand the point of it. Mal was used to gangs, teams and violence. But they weren’t a gang. The players were split into new, temporary teams each match. They were supposed to win, but there were so many rules about what _not _to do Mal could barely keep them straight in her head. They were supposed to rush at the other team and _get the ball, _but they weren’t allowed to punch the other players, intentionally trip them up or fling mud into their eyes to do it. And even when they did win… it didn’t exactly do anything. No one lost or gained territory like on the isle. Apparently there wasn’t even a high risk of being stabbed.

Mal was used to the _must win _against another gang mentality. _Whatever it takes, whatever it takes, whatever it takes, _was how everything was done on the isle after all. But Mal’s teammates, were quite frankly _not _used to this mentality. Football was a competition sure, but it wasn’t life or death. And nothing terrified the members sorted into the team opposite Mal than the look in Mal’s eyes.

The teams switched up after Mal’s first ever match and one of the girl’s Mal had memorized as being on the_ other _team, suddenly beamed at her as she was sorted into Mal’s new team. Mal only stared at her in confusion, not grasping at all that she was smiling out of sheer relief she wouldn’t have to face Mal in battle again. Mal had quite literally only just memorized all the players she was technically allowed to channel her aggression towards, and had been ready to _take _that girl_ out _when the next match started.

As Mal really had never played football before, and had a body trained by seventeen years of fighting and evading attackers in the winding streets of the isle; she was a totally new experience in Auradon Prep’s Girls’ Football. She seemed to have scarily little regard for her personal safety, taking extreme dives, leaps and powerful kicks for the ball amidst a host of much bigger and more experienced players.

Mal was definitely learning the exact finnicky rules about contact on a case by case basis. The whistle must have blown half a dozen times in the first two matches _alone. _Mal quietly added _no kicking shins _to the list of things _not _allowed in football.

By the end of practise the rest of Mal’s new teammates were looking at her with a mix of deep respect and fear. They had definitely made the connection that the same girl that had stood _unyielding _before a dragon would now either be on their team or against them in their matches. It was both an exhilarating and terrifying thought.

Auradon Prep held its breath the day when Uma, daughter of the great sea witch Ursula, was driven across the barrier and brought to their school.

Mal was trying to reprogram her brain so the second she saw Uma, she didn’t immediately spring into flight or fight mode. She didn’t want to ruin her chance to get more kids off the isle by pinning Uma to the ground the moment she stepped within arm’s reach. Mal couldn’t help it though, the fact that her eyes were burning a terrifying, magical green.

Evie was by her side. Second in Command as usual. Right there. An unyielding presence. Another pair of hands in a fight. Another knife slipped in Evie’s boot. Carlos and Jay were standing nearer Ben, they were being really casual about it, talking about Tourney. While Ben didn’t know they were standing there with watchful eyes and ready bodies, Mal and Evie knew from the way they were standing. They were protecting him. If anything did happen. If Uma or one of her pirates did try take a swing at Ben… they’d be ready. As they always were.

Mal also thought splitting themselves up into two less threatening groups would make Uma less defensive immediately. Seeing all four of them in that classic _we are about to fight you _stance would not help. Not to say that Mal and Evie were not fearsome enough on their own… but there was nothing they would do about that. Or the genuinely scary emotionless looks on their faces.

Ben didn’t exactly know what had happened between Mal and Uma… but he was starting to get to know the isle kids well enough to know that face meant _danger. _It was the same face Mal and the others had sported when he walked into his coronation after all.

One thing Mal had told Ben - however reluctant she was to admit weakness - was how much crossing the barrier had hurt. That the force of their magic coming back had literally made her and Evie bleed. Mal had brushed off his genuinely horrified look at this and just made sure Uma was prepared. She’d mentioned it in her letter… but getting a chance to brace yourself couldn’t hurt. Mal was fairly sure that Uma would be magical too, how could she not be with a mother like Ursula?

That was also part of the reason Mal had insisted the whole school not be here to greet the limo. It had not been a fun experience, meeting the hostile rows of faces who looked at the rough and tumble isle kids with open disdain. Especially after the agony and blood of new magic.

It was just Mal, the others, Ben, Fairy Godmother and a _few _of the most receptive students of Auradon Prep, who were waiting. Lonnie, thankfully, had volunteered to show Uma, Harry and Gil around. At least Lonnie, with a mother like Mulan, had some ability to hold her own with weapons as well as words.

The air was thick with tension like a brewing thunderstorm as the limo pulled up. Mal could not help the way her body tensed and her hands curled into fists. It was ready to fight, no matter how much sense she tried to talk into it. Because she didn’t know what Uma was thinking. If she had taken up this offer in good faith… or as just an opportunity to escape the isle and enact a plan of revenge. Against her… against Ben… against Auradon.

Uma stepped out of the limo, and the sight of her, at her familiar turquoise braids and swagger and clothes ready to _throw down, _Mal’s fingers crunched tighter into fists. Made them itch to pull her dagger from where it was so _easy to reach _in her boot.

It was like time froze when they locked eyes. And with no minor shred of alarm, Ben realised that both Mal and Uma’s eyes were _burning _with magic.

Uma had received her inheritance then. The moment she left the barrier too. Whatever great powers her mother had left her had settled into her bones at last. Uma’s eyes shone _gold _and every part of Mal’s body screamed at her to attack.

Evie was rigid next to Mal too. The tension in her body making the chords of her neck stand out with strain. Jay and Carlos’s eyes were locked on the car and watched as Harry Hook and Gil climbed out and stood behind Uma.

How many times had they all fought each other now? They had never lasted long before springing into a fight when they ran into each other.

Naturally they were all sizing each other up. Figuring out automatically and instinctually who would go after who. Evie and Mal had their sights set on Uma. If it came to it… if anyone so much as twitched towards a knife. Jay and Carlos would go after Harry Hook and Gil, splitting the fight so Mal could get to Uma without the protection of her crew.

Uma, Harry and Gil were all silently doing the same before them too. It was written in the tense, frozen silence. Everyone was waiting for the first move. The spark to ignite the tension between them. 

Mal and Uma still had locked eyes. Burning magic between them.

_You. _

It was a real force of will, but Mal tried to push her rising magic down. Forced it back into her bones and tried to calm the aggressive pull of _you are in danger, _that had brought it so quickly to the surface.

This was not about them. This was not about Mal. This was about the undeniable fact that no one deserved to live on the isle. No matter what had happened between them… they couldn’t hurt each other here.

She had to be better here. Wasn’t that the whole point? That on the isle they _had _to do things to survive? They weren’t on the isle right now. If they attacked it was all about _them _and what they wanted. _They had to be better here. _

Mal clenched her fists once most before forcing them to relax. Ben looked like he wasn’t breathing as he watched the scene unfold before him. 

Mal let her hands uncurl by her sides and took a step back. Out of that defensive position she had accidently stepped into the second she saw Uma. _It’s safe, it’s safe, it’s safe. _She told her body as she blinked the magic out of her eyes. _it’s safe, it’s safe, it’s safe, _she told Uma by raising up her hands,_ I won’t hurt you here. _

And then, Mal stepped forward alone. Evie’s body shifted behind her, and Evie swallowed nervously. Unable to walk beside Mal. Unable to protect her. Her eyes were locked on Uma, Harry and Gil, a warning, _don’t try anything. _Harry was doing the very same deeply mistrustful look at Mal. Everybody’s fingers itched to grab their knives. But by some glorious miracle, they resisted.

The tension in the air was so strong it was almost palpable. Mal’s heart raced inside her chest as she stepped towards Uma. Her body remembered that every step towards her greatest rival usually ended with one or both of them bleeding. Mal’s side ached. Remembering the knife that had been shoved into her side by those very same hands not long ago at all. Probably the very same knife Uma had on her now.

But Uma’s hands were shaking too. For the sight of Mal stalking towards her usually ended in pain for her too. Mal’s knife had been shoved deep in Uma’s thigh once. Their fists had struck each other’s faces so many times. Metal spiked gloves catching skin. Always at the beck and call of _whatever it takes, whatever it takes, whatever it takes. _

And then, like an exchange of hostages or trade of leaders, Uma stepped forward too. And the world was frozen in anticipation. Those single solitary steps echoing across the aeons. Never in their lifetimes had they thought it would ever come to this. That one day their slow walk to death and destiny and doom would be replaced by a walk towards a better world. A walk to make peace between the two of them.

Then suddenly there Mal was. Standing before Uma. For the first time in their lives, they were together and they weren’t trapped on the soil of the isle. For the first time Mal was within arm’s reach of Uma and she wasn’t taking the opportunity to tackle her to the ground. She wasn’t flipping a knife between her fingers ready to strike anywhere she could reach.

“I meant what I said in my letter.” Said Mal, forcing the words out of her throat, against every instinct she had learned to trust. “I won’t retaliate… I promise.“ Mal’s fingers ghosted the spot on her side where that last wound still ached, “I’ll leave the past behind the barriers of the isle if you do too.”

Uma regarded her, still so much wariness in her eyes. It looked like every part of her was screaming against shaking Mal’s hand. Every instinct honed over seventeen years told her it was a trap. Everything from the _isle _in Uma didn’t want to trust a word Mal was saying.

But they had all seen the coronation footage. How Mal had stood unrelenting before her mother. How she had been willing to sacrifice herself to save her friends and the chance that Auradon promised at a better life. Uma had seen a version of Mal on that screen that she had never met before. A Mal who had cast aside _whatever it takes _and danced with the death promised too all those who dared betray Maleficent.

Mal held out her hand, her fingers curling in the empty air. She was resolute and unflinching. She had already turned against her mother and all that she had done on the isle to survive. She was offering Uma a new future. One that spared them both of the pain they had been inflicting upon each other their whole lives. They both just had to be brave enough to try. In a world where always hating each other was actually easier, this step… would be the hardest.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Not anymore…” Mal continued. “It’s like Ben said at the coronation, our parents made their choice…” Mal looked Uma square in the eyes, letting her see the strength and truth in them. “ Now it is time for you to make yours.”

Uma held out her hand too, her fingers inches away from Mal’s and answered. “I’m not saying I trust you…” Uma hesitated. Breathing in the deep the clean air of Auradon. Her eyes flickered around them… at the trees, at the school just beyond them. All Uma had ever wanted was before her… a way off the isle of the lost. An escape from the endless nightmare she had lived her whole life long. A way out from under the thumb of Ursula and her cruelty. She could have this life, this land she stepped on now. She could be free. All she had to do… was make peace with her greatest enemy.

Uma squared her shoulders and set her mouth in a resolute line. For just a second she closed her eyes and when she opened them she locked eyes with Mal with total clarity in them.

“Ok.” Said Uma. “I don’t want to go back.” She cast her eyes back quickly at Harry and Gil, “no one does. We will try and abide by your peace. Leave the past back on the isle of the lost.” Uma let her eyes turn hard for a second, letting Mal see the steel shining in them. “But that’s not to say I can forget what happened… I won’t retaliate. But I can’t forget.”

“I never said we had to be friends.” Said Mal and the cold in them made something in Ben’s spine shiver. “And I never said it would be easy. We don’t have to like each other. I can’t forget either, remember.” Mal tried to let the hardness in her voice go. “But this isn’t about us. Or What we did. This is just about the isle. Nothing else. No one deserves that place… not even us.”

Mal turned her palm up. Ben had been alarmed when she’d shown up this morning wearing her terrifying pair of fingerless leather gloves from the isle, but he could see why now she had. Uma’s gloves were just like Mal’s. Rusted nails, shredded metal, every inch of them sharp and deadly.

“It’s a deal then.” Said Mal.

“Deal.” Replied Uma.

Uma and Mal took one last wary look at each other, before they shook hands. Uma could practically hear Ursula screaming in her head as she slipped her fingers into Mal’s palm. Their tough leather gloves studded with sharp scrap scraped against each other in a few seconds that seemed to last forever. And at last, in a sight the isle kids around them had _never _imagined to be possible, Mal and Uma shook hands.

Ben let out a shaky sigh of relief. But Evie, Jay and Carlos didn’t relax until Mal had turned and stalked back to Evie’s side.

Mal didn’t say another word, she simply nodded over at Ben before silently walking away. Evie right there, right by her side. Jay and Carlos understood the silent command. _Stay with Ben. _

Fairy Godmother and Lonnie looked at Mal’s retreating form slightly confused, before brushing it aside and walking up to properly introduce themselves to Uma and her crew. They had no idea the magnitude of what had just happened. At just how monumental it was that Uma and Mal had both remained civil during an entire conversation and no one had left with a sharp object impaled in their bodies.

Mal’s hands shook as she retreated as calmly as she could. Her breathing was ragged in her chest and her heart was pounding like it hadn’t since the coronation. She was absolutely overcome with emotions, too many of them, all screaming for her attention. It was _too much. _

But Evie was right there and she slipped her fingers into Mal’s. Holding her hand as they walked side by side, out of sight of the welcoming committee and their lifelong enemies.

Evie had chosen to wear her isle gloves too. Mal had just assumed it was in case there turned out to be violence. But she realised now, with an ember of something burning warmly in her heart – it had been for exactly this moment. So without hesitation, Evie could hold Mal’s hand too.

Mal couldn’t help the smile that split across her face as she turned to look at Evie. She brushed her shoulder against her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled shyly.

Evie grinned back, a hint of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“I’m full of surprises. Come on,” Said Evie, “let’s go hang out in our dorm room where we won’t accidently run into certain people.”

Mal leaned into Evie’s side as they walked, hand in hand, feeling _safe. _The storm of _holy shit Uma’s really in Auradon, _dying down. As long as they were together… they could do anything.

They’d be ok.

Uma and Mal might have promised to try and leave the past in the past, but that didn’t mean it was easy. They were both fighting against seventeen years of experience, of the knowledge tried and true and tested that seeing each other meant _you are in danger. _

They were no longer the leaders of two child gangs. Nor did they each have clearly defined territory of this is _my _half of the isle and that is _your _half of the isle. So unlike the isle, in Auradon they could run into each other _anywhere. _It was no longer a case of your in _my territory _that spurred them into an fight.

But they weren’t on the isle anymore. It was no longer acceptable for them to attack each other on sight. But they couldn’t help their instincts however. Trained and reflective of a lifetime of associating each other with pain and a deep rooted reflex to grab the closet weapon as soon as they saw each other.

This combination made for some really interesting and quite frankly, terrifying stand offs in the corridors of Auradon Prep. Because whenever they saw each other, as they tried to pass each other in the hallways all their instincts started to _scream _at them to attack. The result of this past reflex and current reality, was that the pair of them usually froze. Locked in eye contact as they waited to see who would break their promise first.

It had been going ok so far. In the few days it had been since Uma had arrived at Auradon Prep. Mal and Uma hadn’t exchanged another word since their world altering handshake The animosity between them hadn’t dimmed one bit. So far when they passed each other their fingers curled into fists and they walked past as slowly as they could. Not taking their eyes of each other, lightening practically crackling between the pair of them, until they were a safe distance to turn their backs.

But the desperate mantra of _we’ve got to be better here, we’ve got to be better here, we’ve got to be better here, _did _not _always work. Didn’t always stop their very first reactions to what they perceived to be a _threat. _

Mal had been walking to English when she had run into Uma. Spotted her bright turquoise hair in the throng of their new Auradon Prep peers. As usual, as soon as Uma had seen Mal, they had attempted to pass each other without listening to the desire to grab a knife and fling it as hard as possible.

Mal’s fingers had been fidgeting by her side, but _not _going for her knife. She had been doing so well, despite the eclectic energy in the air between them. So much tension with no release.

But then, Mal had seen Uma’s hand flash behind her back and she had slammed Uma into the nearest wall quicker than she could blink. Every part of Mal’s brain screaming, _she has a knife. _

‘’Oof, ‘’ Uma had groaned as the air rushed out of her lungs. Mal’s wrist at her throat as she pinned her to the nearest wall. Mal’s teeth were bared, sharp and deadly.

Uma didn’t wait to explain she had only been reaching to untie her jacket_, _her mouth opening into an angry snarl, before she twisted Mal’s arm off her neck with both her hands and pushed Mal away.

Everyone around them scrambled out of the way, but Uma and Mal were only staring at each other. They were watching each other’s hands, waiting for them to go for the knife they both knew they carried. Mal had hers in her boot. She had no idea where Uma had hers. Mal yearned to grab it… to grab _anything _to defend herself with – as she had so often on the isle.

But unfortunately, unlike on the isle, they had magic here too. Here in Auradon the fight didn’t get deadly only _after _someone grabbed the nearest sharp object… here they had their own powers. Their own death, destiny and doom in their bones ready to answer their call for help.

Their magic was reacting all around them. To their frantic heartrates, to their desire to defend themselves. To their innate desires to _win. _Mal could feel her own eyes burning green. She could see the necklace around Uma’s neck glowing and something unearthly and gold flickering in her eyes.

It was just like when they had met up at the limo, both Uma and Mal’s eyes were glowing with power. Deadly, deadly potential.

It was like a storm crackling around them. Mal could almost hear the crashing waves of the sea and feel the violent whipping wind around them. Uma was full of power. Overwhelmingly full of it. It churned around her like a maelstrom.

Mal’s own power rose up to match it. Answering the challenge in the rising omnipresent feeling of the ocean swelling around them.

Uma may have held the sea inside her magic, the salt and waves always answering her call. But Mal was half - _fairy. _She had deep magic in her too, and more than that, Mal had a dragon locked inside her bones.

Around Mal was the spitting, crackling sound of fire. The air around her turning hot and scorching with power. As if the space around Mal was seconds away from becoming a vortex of fire. Mal felt her teeth sharpen in her mouth, as her body answered the call to danger.

_Let me out, let me out, let me out _the dragon inside her begged.

Uma and Mal just stared at each other. Feeling the power caught up between the two of them.

It had only taken them seconds to escalate this fight. Seconds before the two of them held an arsenal of magical power pointed right at the other.

Something in Mal’s chest spluttered and died all at once. Her eyes flickered back to their non-magical green. Across from her, Uma’s eyes did the same, the enchanting gold fading away. It was like they had both realised it at once, realised just how easy it would be here.

_Utter annihilation. _

it wouldn’t even have to be like those brutal fist fights on the isle. Hands grabbing at anything, arms tight in a choke hold, in a powerful throw. All the force they could put into each punch the second they had an opening at each other’s faces. Fingernails digging into skin and scrabbling for purchase and legs kicking up to get the other person _off _their body.

Knives palmed out of boots and hiding places and while they were still _so close, _their bodies locked in combat, a desperate _shove _of that sharp metal into any flesh they could reach. Blood pouring down their faces, from broken lips and bleeding noses. Fingers bent back and clawed gouges where nails had gone in and _dragged. _

Uma and Mal had fought each other in so many different ways, for so long… but never like this. Never had they stood with this much power between them. All of it primed and ready and waiting to be unleashed.

Mal stepped back suddenly, alarmed at the magical death hanging between them. She forced herself to take a deep breath and closed her eyes. She took in the silence, felt her heart and its manic panicked beat and said _enough. _She made her magic come _back_. She reached out and pulled all that fire back inside her. Stopped the churning storm of power around her. And with snap she felt inside her bones, the dragon inside her stopped tugging.

It was a big sign of trust. Willing her magic to melt away and return to her bones. Closing her eyes. She didn’t meet Uma’s eyes as she turned around quickly and stalked off. Not looking back. An indiscernible feeling settling uncomfortably on her skin.

A strange and haunting new _what if. _

_What if she or Uma lost control here? _They could hurt each other so easily… as they had just proved. They had their magical inheritance as they had never had it before and it made a part of Mal shake with fear.

They could easily kill each other here. Just one slip. One moment of anger and hurt and revenge taken _too far. _

And then what? They would have proved all the people of Auradon right about them after all. How could the children of monsters ever be anything good or kind after all?

Mal didn’t make it to English. She didn’t make it to any more of her classes that day. She stalked away from the school and _walked and walked and walked. _Unable to bear the burden of the new knowledge across her shoulders. The power she and Uma had in their bones. What they could easily and unthinkingly do to each other here. Who they could become… what they could do… even when they weren’t on the isle.

She made it to the enchanted lake, to that place she had sat with Ben as he saw a true spark of good in her glow. As she had looked at her reflection in that water and seen only Maleficent born again.

Mal kicked off her shoes, sat with her feet in the water and watched her reflection ripple on its surface. As if hoping the waters of the enchanted lake could wash away her turmoil and fear as easily as it did spells and curses. As if the horrible potential she had in her bones, that she had just unthinkingly released and pointed _right at Uma _would be taken _back. _

Sadly she suspected it would be nothing quite as simple as that. This path to peace she had chosen would be hard and messy. A constant war between who she wanted to be and who she had been her whole life.

But she had asked Uma here. In that time after the coronation, when the dust had barely settled and the panicked citizens of Auradon fled back to their own kingdoms, Mal had looked across the sea and said _enough. _

Mal was old. So was Uma. Their mothers, god forsake them, had been some of the first to bear children. Mal still doesn’t know what Maleficent was thinking. But it certainly had not been for love. She was fairly certain Maleficent had taken up with some random prisoner on the isle and as soon as the deed was done, had disposed of him. Maleficent had probably tried testing the barrier for a few, hopeful years. Those first few where nothing would stop the raging on the isle of the lost. Where there had been no order, no law, no territories belonging to different queens. Every day promising death and doom to those who dared trap her here, the second she managed to break free. Always certain it would be today… or tomorrow… or this year… or the next.

But as soon as it grew clearer, as each year that passed and the barrier still stood strong. Maleficent had decided somewhere in her quest to escape that ruling this place was better than ruling nothing at all. Somehow along the way, as her longevity waned for the first time, she had probably decided it best to have an heir. Or a spare. Or a soldier. After all, what better way to guarantee loyalty than creating them yourself? Raising someone up from the very first breath they took to be your weapon?

Mal had certainly not been made for love. Not to get it or give it or hold it in her hands and neither had Uma.

_Not for love. Not for love. Not for love. _

Everything that they had been and done and experienced, they had been the first. The first kids on the isle of the lost. But it had been an endless twenty years since Maleficent and the others were trapped, and seventeen long years since Mal and Uma had been born at all.

There were so many children on the isle now. All in varying stages of powerlessness. Even if they weren’t like Mal and Uma, not thugs for their parents, the isle was still a hard place to survive. There were so many kids underfoot, some of the youngest kids abandoned on the street were barely 5.

Mal was doing this for them. For all those tiny children who had so much life left in them. So much skin that wasn’t scarred and messed up. They still could learn to trust, to dream, to breathe freely in Auradon. They could come here and by the time they were Mal’s age now, they might barely remember the isle at all. Like it was just some half-forgotten dream they’d had once.

It was almost too late for Mal and Uma and the others. They were so old, so hurt and so tired. They would never forget the isle, it was true. But they did deserve a life totally free of it. They all did.

Mal didn’t know what would happen to the little kids once she got them off. If they would just be enrolled in school like Mal and the others had been. Mal hopes they get a family here. That some families in Auradon see the kids exactly as they are. Just in need of a little love and home and warmth to grow up good and strong and brave.

Mal walked back to her dorm after a few hours, feeling calmer. They were all here for a reason. Uma was here for a reason. They had both shook hands and _promised _not to retaliate for anything that happened on the isle. Today didn’t spit in the face of that. They hadn’t hurt each other after all. They hadn’t even reached for their weapons. It had been their magic, unasked, that had escalated the situation. It was a totally new part of the equation between two people who had _a lot _of feelings towards each other.

Uma had kept her promise. So had Mal. Accidents aside. They would do it. They would be ok. They would get the other kids off the isle. They would make peace with the past.

It hadn’t come as a surprise to Mal and the others, but when they crossed the barrier from the isle of the lost they hadn’t been checked over by a single medical professional. Even now, after weeks and the disaster that was the coronation, they hadn’t had a single check-up.

But considering the fact that Auradon hadn’t even sent an escort of guards or a dignitary to pick them up in the first place, a lack of oversight when it came to the isle kids was nothing new.

Up until Mal told Ben, literally the day before Uma was to cross the barrier, no one outside of the core four had ever realised getting magic had made Evie and Mal bleed. And considering the fact that Mal hadn’t made a big deal of it, and steadfast refused to go into detail about it – even Ben really had no idea just _how much _it had hurt.

Mal didn’t want to get thrown back onto the isle because the wrong people found out that _she _could become a dragon too. She would keep that secret as deep in her bones as the dragon itself. She wasn’t just about to tell anyone, not even Ben, that her first magical instinct was to become a dragon. A dragon that _still _wanted out. She did not want to end up run through with a sword like her mother had been. She was not eager to repeat that little piece of family history.

So it had hadn’t come as a surprise when they had rolled up to Auradon, got shown around the sparkling new school and dropped off at their dorm rooms, that they hadn’t been met by a single doctor.

The idea, honestly, hadn’t even crossed their minds. It still hadn’t, all these weeks later. They were so unused to the idea that _professional _medical help and advice existed and could be accessed. They didn’t blink at lack of it when they arrived 

Their whole lives on the isle had been spent with their own rudimentary medical knowledge only improving through personal experience of what was, and what was _not, _a good idea. They got better at it the older they got. The makeshift bandages they tied over bleeding cuts when they were 7 evolved into Evie’s neat little stitches that closed knife wounds by the time they were 14.

It was different when Evie got hurt, Mal’s hands were less perfect and practised. Her spare time wasn’t spent sewing the tiny pieces of scrap fabric from the isle into clothing like Evie. Evie’s cuts and wounds and stabbings had rough winding scars from haphazardous stitches. But it stopped the bleeding and that was enough for Evie. No matter Mal’s pained guilt filled expression as she compared as she saw the difference for herself in the marks they left behind. It seemed unfair that the person with the best stitches got given the worst stitches in return.

Mal and Evie had been participating in mandatory P.E lessons for a few weeks now. Uma and Mal hadn’t had another explosive magical confrontation and it seemed to all of their Auradon peers that things might be settling down a bit. What they didn’t know however, was that as it had literally been only around a month or so of Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos living in Auradon, not all of their isle wounds had managed to heal yet.

This was obviously not news to Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos. They were participating like nothing was wrong, because to _them, _of course it was totally normal. And while they had started to wear more and more relaxed clothing, it was still nothing like the Auradon kid’s clothes and the large swaths of skin they left exposed. The scars, trials and tribulations written across their skin had yet to be truly noticed by really _anyone. _

Mal and Evie were having a fun time trying to participate in P.E. Unlike football, which Mal practised several times a week and now had a sort of _ok _grasp on the rules – the games they played in P.E constantly changed. It left no time for either Mal or Evie to really understand what was and what was _not _a good idea.

They were playing dodgeball or something, Mal really didn’t know for certain. All she did know was that it involved an awful lot of shoving, elbowing and dirty moves for an Auradon sport. What she also knew what that whenever she tried anything that seemed like it would be acceptable, she was told very quickly she was playing it wrong. No punching was allowed. Or kicking. Or shoving. Apparently…

It was quite hard for them to adjust. Because on the isle when there was violence there was _violence. _There had never been a moment in Mal’s life when things had been caught in this strange shade of grey. If someone rushed at you on the isle, but god you had better be prepared to do _whatever it takes _to get out of that situation. There was no time for hesitation, or restraint. It was the time for a quick, solid _slam _of a fist into a face.

Hesitating or holding back was only dangerous. It would get you killed. Whatever happened, happened. If you were against someone, you were _against _someone. If you could punch them you would punch them. If you could grab at them and push them down a flight of stairs, you would. If you had a knife and there was an opening, well, you would take it. In gang warfare the only thing that mattered was who won.

As such, Evie and Mal spent a lot of P.E getting red carded for too much accidental contact or elbowing. Mal couldn’t help it exactly, she saw an opening or a dodge ball coming her way she just _dived _for it. So what if someone’s body happened to be right in the way. That was on them.

Because of this, when Evie and Mal were in turn elbowed or shoved or tripped, they didn’t take it personally. They didn’t do anything about it at all. There was no shriek of _red card! _As the game shuddered to a halt. It genuinely didn’t cross their minds. It wasn’t like the other team or their own was doing it on purpose anyway, this was nothing like the punches and hits aimed to _hurt _on the isle.

And so, when an elbow crunched into Mal’s ribs as she dived for the ball, Audrey was particularly surprised when Mal let a hiss of pain escape through her teeth. The ball was grabbed by someone else and flung forward as Mal fell back, wincing, one hand gingerly making its way to her ribs.

Audrey turned and had a snide remark on the very tip of her tongue. She was seconds away from saying “_what is it Mal, can’t handle a bit of dodgeball?” _When she noticed the blood seeping through Mal’s shirt. Audrey stopped dead in her tracks and her words swiftly died in her throat.

To Audrey, the strangest part was that Mal didn’t actually look like she was surprised by the blood. Mal simply frowned down at her shirt as she lifted her hands away from her ribs and saw bright red blood seeping through. She just looked annoyed, with a wince of pain on her lips.

Mal turned to find Evie but she was already walking over. Evie had a similar expression on her face as Mal. The same careful concern of someone who wasn’t shocked. Someone who had seen the hit, noticed the blood and already knew exactly what the problem was.

“Can you see what’s happened?” Asked Mal, making a face as she lifted up her shirt gingerly. She made a whine like sound through her teeth. “_Please_ tell me It doesn’t need any more stitches.”

“I’m sure it won’t,” replied Evie as she crouched by Mal’s side, sweeping her long blue hair behind her back so she could take a closer look. “It has been healing really well since it was stitched it up the first time.”

Evie’s fingers were feather light as they traced across Mal’s side, her mouth in a frown of concentration as she examined the wound.

No one but Audrey seemed to notice the rudimentary medical examination happening in the gym. She was frozen on the outskirts of the game. Not able to believe what she was seeing.

The elbow Mal had taken to the ribs had slammed into what looked like a half healed scar on Mal’s side. It twisted between Mal’s ribs and her hip, knotted, thick and horrible. The scar was still new; a raw and angry red. It was puckered all over and scabbed over dots on either side were the clear remains of where stitches had been till recently. The scar itself was raised, pinched together from either side of Mal’s stomach. It was still scabbing over, barely healed at all actually.

Audrey felt all her breath leave her lungs as she realised with a start that it looked like _Mal had been stabbed. _Stabbed not too long ago from the looks of it.

The skin on either side was strange too, catching the light oddly. With a sick, twisted lurch in Audrey’s stomach, she realised it was a burn. Mal’s side had been _burned shut. _Oh _god, _it had been cauterized. The wound had been that deep. That unholy. That deadly. They had burned it shut before they had been able to stop the bleeding with stitches.

Audrey felt like she might throw up as her eyes picked out the shape of the burn. Straight edges and a pointed tip. It looked like the ghost of the knife that had plunged into Mal’s stomach in the first place. Audrey was willing to bet that the knife print on Mal’s side would match perfectly to the one Evie kept in her boot.

It was the middle of the scar that was bleeding. The scab had split open painfully and it was dribbling blood. Evie’s fingers ghosted over the area, checking the rest of the scar was still intact. Still held together under the surface. Nothing would be quite as horrible as the muscle tearing open anew after all. Still delicate after being cleaved in two those few months ago.

This whole mess was the result of doing _whatever it takes _to survive. After all it didn’t matter what the scar looked like, as long as you were still alive to see it.

Worse still. Was that as Mal held up her shirt with one hand, the other wiping blood onto her shorts - Audrey could see a myriad of _other _scars covering Mal’s torso. Disappearing under her leggings and her sleeves. It was truly frightening to see. Older scars. Deep purple, faded pink and ancient silver ones. They overlapped and sliced and some simply plunged inward. Other old twisting scars where Mal had clearly gotten stabbed before.

“Its just cracked the scab a bit.” Said Evie as she straightened up. “It should be ok. We can find some ice later. And maybe put a bandage over it, just to protect it a bit more.” Evie dusted off her knees with her practised hands. Evie and Mal had done this deadly dance before.

Mal agreed with a hum. “Sounds good.” She said as she let go of her shirt. Letting a small hiss between her teeth as the fabric immediately stuck to the raw scab. She grinned across at Evie, “Thanks.”

And to Audrey’s utter disbelief, as though nothing was the matter, like Mal didn’t have a great horrible _stab wound _to her side; Evie and Mal returned to the game. They weren’t playing as seriously as they had been before, there was no laser concentration in their eyes as they jumped after the ball and flung themselves forward. They just hung back. They were talking and _laughing _and generally using the rest of P.E as an excuse to hang out.

Evie was grinning, her blue hair sparkling behind her. Playfully shoving into Mal as they talked animatedly about something. Mal had a wickedness in her eyes as she made grand gestures with her hands. Telling some sort of story. It was like the stab wound wasn’t at all hanging in the air between them. No shock or surprise or the heavy air of _you could have died. _Mal and Evie were acting totally unconcerned. Like this was totally… normal.

But Audrey had been totally knocked off kilter by the whole exchange apparently only _she _had noticed. She couldn’t focus for the rest of P.E.

Audrey could not believe it.

Mal had been _stabbed recently. _And from the look of the rest of her… she was no stranger to the experience. To pain.

What Audrey had just seen, in their _P.E class no less_ was a legitimate stab wound on a seventeen year old. Audrey had never seen anything like it before, let alone on someone her own age.

This gym had hosted dances and parties and football matches. This gym held cheerleading and fun and friends. This place was a school. Everyone in it was safe. This was _Auradon. _They were kids. Even though their parents had been heroes when they were young, had struggled and fought against some great evil – it wasn’t like that anymore. Not for their children anyway.

All the kingdoms had come together, after such individual turmoil and decided collectively to make a stand. They had banded together, and with their individual sovereignty they had united their kingdoms under the one great banner of Auradon.

They had cast out all those who had ever tried to harm them. Creating the isle of the lost. Raising some cursed spit of land out of the ocean and dumping their enemies there. They had forgot about them for 20 years.

Forgetting about them… and their children.

They had somehow thought that they deserved it too. That babies deserved the ultimate punishment. To be imprisoned forever on the isle of the lost, to be born, live… and die there.

When it was said like that – like the isle was just a place, it didn’t seem so bad. The idea that it was only _not leaving, _that was the problem. But that wasn’t true at all. It wasn’t like the isle had any guards. Any rules. It was a lawless place, with no kind fairies or benevolent rulers. It was ruled by their enemies. By monsters.

By the very dragon that Audrey had seen at the coronation. Who had been so _quick _to turn on her own daughter. And all manner of other monsters beside. What had happened to Mal and all the other kids there? What had made them this way? So coolly unaffected when their barely healed injuries burst open, like it was not unusual at all. So unsurprised to be called upon and asked for help the second someone started to bleed. Like kids should be expected to know how to fix that… fix and stitch up deadly wounds. 

It was a miracle Mal and the others had arrived in Auradon and not immediately burned it all to the ground. _A fucking miracle. _Look what had happened to her over on the isle. Look what they had done to her, abandoning her as a baby. Leaving her in the clutches of monsters and war. It really was nothing short of a miracle Mal had spared them her mother’s fire. Had _stood before her mother. _Flinching but unfailing. Against the teeth and claws and fangs of someone who would not hesitate to kill her. Who had most definitely hurt her before. The proof of that was written in the scars Audrey had just barely glimpsed at under Mal’s clothes.

Mal had protected them. The kingdoms and the people who had left her to misery for seventeen long years.

This gym was a lifetime away from the one Evie and Mal had lived till a few short weeks ago. Mal and Evie were terrible at learning contact rules _for good reason. _Their fearsome moves in this dodgeball game was something that had kept them alive.

Audrey’s safety, the safety that had brought her those painless years growing up here in Auradon had been directly purchased from the creation of the isle.

The children of Auradon’s Heroes grew up without fear and the price was written all over Mal’s skin. Not just Mal’s… all the children of the isle. Audrey was not so naive as to imagine Evie, Jay, Carlos, Uma, Harry and Gil had grown up free from such horrors as Mal had endured. That their skin would not be scarred and mutilated too.

Audrey was stuck in a loop. She could not stop _imagining it. _

All Audrey could see was Mal being knifed. A struggle over food or power or territory had ended with a knife embedded in Mal’s stomach. Maybe her leather jacket had ridden up for a _moment _and that had been enough. All it had taken. One opening. One instant of weakened defences for a sharp blade to be plunged into her insides. It must have missed _some _important parts of her guts. Her organs. Her bowels. Otherwise surely Mal would not be alive.

Oh Audrey couldn’t help but see all the blood. How fast and how hot it would pour from Mal’s side. The knife yanked out and _blood _coming with it. How _so much, too much _would have ran down her body, down her legs and soaked her shirt red and wet. Blood seeping through Mal’s fingertips as with a white face and ashen lips she weakly tried to stop the flow of blood.

How did Mal survive that? Audrey couldn’t help but see Mal stumbling away, clutching her stomach as her lifeblood flowed from her body. Blood coughing up out of her mouth, dribbling from her lips. Her eyes unfocused, as they stared down at her bloody hands, unable to comprehend the magnitude of what had just happened.

But Audrey already knew how Mal had survived it. Even though it seemed impossible to imagine_. _It had been that knife in Evie’s boot shoved into the nearest source of open flame that had saved her. Superheated till it glowed orange at the edges. She couldn’t imagine what that must have felt like. Sounded like. Looked like. As the knife pressed against the wound to staunch the river of blood pumping out of Mal’s body. As it burned it shut. Melted the skin together. Created a new injury to save her life. Another scar to add patchwork on Mal’s skin.

There were no doctors on the isle. The weight of that knowledge was heavy across Audrey’s shoulders. There was only the quick thinking actions of children. Evie was good at sewing, Audrey had already noticed that in their shared textiles class. Evie’s slender hands and perfect stitches, pure concentration on her face. Her eyebrows meeting in a frown. How many stitches had they given each other by now? How many times had they saved each other’s lives?

There was no magic on the isle after all. All this wicked magic Evie and Mal now had at their fingertips had been of no help to them over there. When they had needed it most of all. As usual, they only had themselves to count on. Their own medical knowledge. Their own trials and tribulations. Maybe they had learned which plants helped and which plants hindered. Keeping the seeds safe, making _sure _they grew each year in the stony soil. It would have needed as much help as it could get and so did they.

Audrey could not focus on the game at all. Her brain stuck as she truly evaluated what Mal and the other’s lives had been like. What all the children on the isles lives were like. She had taken those first few steps at the coronation. Bowing to the daughter of the dark fairy after she stood before a dragon and protected Auradon. But even then… she had not imagined this. That even in the moment Mal had faced down Maleficent, her side had burned with the half healed remains of when a knife had been shoved into her stomach.

All those scars… all that pain they had suffered. There was a split in Mal’s eyebrow, Audrey had noticed it at once that very first day. She had just assumed it was a bad girl thing, a display of what Mal was and the rules she was willing to break. It was _I’m not like you and I don’t want to be. _It was, _I am a villain and you cannot trust me. _

But now… Audrey couldn’t help but considerer the new alternate that Mal actually hadn’t done it on purpose. Audrey could see Mal’s forehead splitting open under the force of a punch to the face and the blood pouring down her face. She could see Mal ducking back in a knife fight and the knife meant for her eye skimming through her eyebrow instead.

Worse of all, she could see Maleficent. The great and terrible dark fairy. She could see her violent back hand at a Mal who hadn’t quite lived up to expectations. She had seen Mal flinch away from her mother at the coronation and wondered what had conditioned that response in her. What she might have lived through. Wondered when Mal had learned to fear her own mother, as all of Auradon feared her.

For Maleficent had no trouble cursing a baby once. Audrey’s own mother, Aurora. Mal had been a baby on that island, why had anyone assumed for even a moment, that meant she would be safe? How could they assume Maleficent would stay her hand when she’d once taken all her rage out on a baby for simply not being invited to a celebration?

What had Maleficent done to Mal when she do when faced with true disappointments from her daughter? When Mal was old enough to hold a knife, old enough to fight and old enough to loose…then Mal had been old enough to learn the consequences of failure on the isle of the lost.

Audrey’s newfound absolute lack of skill and concentration got so bad, that the coach actually gently pulled her aside and asked her if she was feeling alright. Audrey had stared up at him with wide eyes that did nothing to help her case. So she had just shook her head and told him she had a headache. Which wasn’t exactly wrong. Her head was positively pounding from the weight she had just taken from the sky and was going to have to learn to live with.

At this and the rather woozy expression on Audrey’s face, Mal had turned to her with some alarm and concern written on her face. “Oh no,” said Mal, “I’m sorry you’re not feeling good.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she took in the wobbly way which Audrey was standing.

“Do you want some of my water?” Said Evie and held up the water bottle she had been carrying during the last half of the match. “Might help?”

“Yeah, and maybe you should sit down or something.” Mal added.

Audrey could only stare at the pair of them in surprise. They were quick to help. Even now. Even to Audrey.

How could she have ever thought them selfish? They hadn’t talked much since the coronation. Audrey had certainly not started to build any new bridge of friendship between them. The fact that Audrey had been ready and _waiting _to still be snide to Mal when she was elbowed was proof of that.

But here they were. Offering her their help. Looking at her with actual, genuine concern in their eyes.

She had misjudged them so.

And she was determined not to make that mistake again.

Auradon was nothing like the isle, but years of abuse had its claws deep in the isle kids and somethings would not be as easy to shake from their shoulders as their old isle jackets.

It wasn’t just Mal who had scars left over from the isle. While hers could be most easily seen in that horrible, half healed scar to her side – not all were visible to the naked eye. Not all of the isles abuses could be found in the scars on their skin, but rather their actions… their fears, their memories.

Evie struggled with the people here. It had been fine when they didn’t trust her. When everyone looked at her beauty and declared it _poison _and had stayed far away_. _They hadn’t come within arm’s reach of her, as if they thought she’d enchant them somehow. Some dark magic tied up in her sapphire blue hair and dazzling eyes. Ready to trick their kingdoms from them. Ready to become a true princess as her birthright had once demanded she be.

The Auradon kids were getting used to the isle kids at Auradon Prep. They even trusted them now, after the huge fiasco that was the coronation. But it was absurd how easy they seemed to forget, to lump them all In the same boat now they Mal and the others had _proved _they were “good” too. They seemed to be totally ignorant of how growing up on the isle had effected them, and would continue to affect them. Mal was getting sick of the flash of realisation in people eyes of _oh, the isle was bad. _Like it wasn’t obvious. Like there wasn’t a reason Mal had immediately got her worst enemy of the isle as a first step to get _everyone else off too. _

But that had changed since the coronation. Not all at once, but slowly. As her new classmates saw Evie, saw her beauty and her fashion and how determined she worked in all her classes and got _closer _and _closer. _Grew less and less afraid of her as they watched and realised she would not hurt them.

It was casual at first. Auradon kids appearing behind her so _close _and so _fast _and saying her name. Shouts of “hey Evie!” And a pair of hands on her shoulders. Casual contact without asking. People seeing her new clothes, new dress, new shirt and _touching it, _grabbing, putting their hands on her, seeing what the material was, examining it closely and then asking if she could make them something too.

People sliding close to sit next to her at breakfast. People grabbing at her hands to see what bracelets she’d fashioned recently. People who were so used to _not asking _because who would ask before a hug? Before grabbing someone’s hand? Before coming close and putting their arms around someone’s shoulders?

But Evie had grown up on the isle. Evie had been _used _by her mother as an object to trade for all the shiny things monsters could scrounge up from their island of scrap.

Perhaps they saw how Mal was with Evie. How close she walked. How they held hands. How relaxed Evie was with it. With the touch of Mal’s fingers. How they brushed shoulders. How there was never it wasn’t even a question in the air before Mal had taken her spot as always next to Evie.

Perhaps what the Auradon kids saw was,

Mal didn’t ask,

So why would they?

But that simply wasn’t _true. _

Mal was a safe space. Mal had always been a safe space for Evie. Mal never pushed or shoved or invaded Evie’s space. There was an ask there, in Mal’s eyes when she approached. A question Evie always answered by letting her in. By curling _her _fingers around Mal. By scooting over the bench and giving Mal space to sit beside her. By taking Mal up on the invitation to hug, or walk close. It was always an ask and always an answer. Mal always giving Evie the space to say _no. _

Evie couldn’t do that with anybody else apart from Mal, Jay and Carlos. Her body didn’t understand. All it felt was hands grabbing and her space being invaded and all its instincts screamed at her to _shut down. _It made her freeze. Flicked her thoughts into another realm so quickly it was like she couldn’t see the room that was in front of her. Couldn’t see the bright lights of Auradon. Couldn’t see that it was just a classroom, just a corridor. Just some bright eyed Auradon kid.

Because Evie’s body felt someone that wasn’t Mal or Carlos or Jay, get _too close, too fast, with no warning. _And it was right back there on the isle.

Hands that weren’t hers. Hands that had been given permission by someone that was _not her. _Bodies and rough stubble and nails and fingers _so close. _Taking what was hers. Her body. Her autonomy.

But the others noticed. Jay and Carlos and Mal. They would watch out for each other every day and till the last breath they took, after all.

Evie had been pushing it down. The fear. Her body’s response. Just how much she _hated _it. She had been trying so hard to fit in. To act like it didn’t matter. Like every casual touch was just as casual to her as it clearly was to everyone else.

But she couldn’t hide the flinch on her face from the other isle kids. And they wouldn’t let it pass. They wouldn’t let it continue. But they understood, how hard it was to be different here, to have so many invisible scars no one could understand.

As soon as the other isle kids realised what was going on – they stared back on the offensive. It didn’t matter to Mal if Fairy Godmother pulled her up after class about politeness or civility. If someone was in Evie’s space without asking, by god Mal was going to make them reconsider doing it ever again.

Mal was definitely the scariest – Jay was a close second, but his eyes didn’t burn magically when he made his point.

A girl in Evie’s English class saw Evie had made a new jacket and without asking had put her hands on Evie’s shoulders, her face so close, pulling the material between her fingers.

Mal had seen the light disappear from Evie’s eyes, and that horrible, familiar way her breathing turned shallow like she was struggling for breath. Mal’s voice had been so cold and so alarming the girl had jumped back,

“Get off. Don’t touch her like that.”

“- What? I was just looking at her jacket.” She had stared at Mal like she had grown a second head.

“Well maybe _ask _next time.” Mal had replied just as coldly as before, the burning green fire in Mal’s eyes leaving no room for argument.

Mal took her seat next to Evie, the unplayful look in her eyes creating a wide barrier around the two girls. Just what Evie wanted as she pulled herself back together and reminded herself that she wasn’t on the isle anymore. Mal was great at that, at being an unyielding and unfriendly force when Evie needed her to be.

They all helped in their own, different ways. Sometimes Evie didn’t need a surly force of nature protecting her space. Sometimes all she needed was a friend by her side as she _decided _it was ok. As _she _showed someone what she had made and invited them to have a look. Taking those steps forward of _you can trust them, _with her brand new Auradon friends.

While Jay could be just as silently intimidating as Mal, taking up the space next to Evie and warding others away. He was also great at just being nearby, watching, waiting, calming, as Evie took those hard, trusting steps herself.

Carlos for example, had a different approach. Instead of the silent and deadly tact Mal and Jay were clearly taking, he simply told people to stop. Not in the cold growl Mal used, but his patient, understanding and much softer voice. He did it with disappointed eyes and a frown as he shook his head.

“You should ask.” He’d say when an Auradon kid in his and Evie’s history class grabbed at the sleeve of Evie’s new jacket. “ You can’t just barge into someone’s space like that. I thought people in Auradon were supposed to have manners? C’mon,” he’d say in a way that made the other person immediately feel bad, “ common sense.”

That was a great approach, unlike what Mal and Jay were doing, it actually made the Auradon kids pause for thought. Carlos could see it in their faces. Being called out for being too rough or brash or unthinking from _isle kids _no less was really surprising. Yeah Evie was from the isle, but that didn’t mean they could just abandon all sense of common sense and decency when they interacted with her.

They usually stepped back in an embarrassed sort of way, reading the room for _once. _Noticing just how little Evie seemed to be enjoying how close they were. Perhaps being astute enough to actually notice the flinch written across her face. The muted fear in her eyes. They usually mumbled an apology and made sure to actually ask next time.

Evie was trying, she really was. Trying to tell herself, trying to listen to a new voice that _promised _she was safe here. This was a new world after all. Totally new soil beneath her feet and no barriers trapping them all forever in one place.

But they had only been in Auradon a few months and a lifetime of fear wouldn’t go away that easily. It was still hard to trust everything would still be here tomorrow. Each morning as she woke in her dorm and saw Mal sprawled across her bed opposite, something whispered, _this might be the last morning. _Each time she slipped into the shower and felt the hot water pouring from the showerhead her bones said, _don’t get used to it. _

And every breakfast, lunch and dinner most of all her heart hardened and said _be prepared to pay for this again. Be prepared to pay for this again. Be prepared to pay for this again. _

Because despite the pure unadulterated relief she had felt at that coronation, there was still such a deep fear in Evie that she would have to _go back to the isle. _

And when she thought about the isle… and what had happened there, she couldn’t help but feel the food in her mouth turn to ashes. She couldn’t help but get lost in it. Go down that deep, dark rabbit hole. It was just like when people grabbed at her without asking. Came to close, too fast. It was _too familiar. _

So much in that little, ramshackle house on the isle had been paid for by Evie.

“_let’s make a trade.” _Thieves and merchants and murderers would say in whispers that carried through the walls.

_“This trinket for your daughter.”_

_“Food and moonshine for a night”_

_“Give me her and I can get you a new supply of that ruby red lipstick.”_

The clothes her mother wore, the sparkling mirrors that shone from every surface of their house, every unspoiled bite of food, every treasure and glittering piece of jewellery could be measured in rough hands grabbing at Evie’s arms. Rough bodies and rough fingers clawing at her skin and pulling off her clothes.

There was a madness and a poison in the Evil Queens head. Put there long ago by the magic mirror’s whispering.

_Who is fairest of them all? Who is fairest? Who is fairest? Who is fairest?_

The Evil Queen had lost everything listening to that voice, the devil in her head that pushed her on and on. Each atrocity in the name of _fairest _worse than the last. It had not quelled, even on the isle.

Evie wasn’t even sure if it was magical anymore. If the whispering really did stop when the barriers enclosed the Evil Queen’s life. But it didn’t matter either way, for the Evil Queen would hear its voice in her head for the rest of her life.

Evie could see the fractured, hungry light in her mother’s eyes as it spoke to her. Answering her endless ask of _who is fairest? _Hoping, always hoping that the answer would change.

Somehow hearing _Snow White, Snow White, Snow White, _as its answer for the last endless decades had done nothing to stop her hunger for its words.

Worse though. Much worse than hearing _who is fairest _and always hearing _Snow White _as its answer; was that for the last seventeen years the Evil Queen had asked it another question. With the same hope the answer would change.

For once, long ago, in that castle in that kingdom that had belonged to Snow White’s father, as the Evil Queen made those plans in place to murder a child, she had at least one last comfort from the mirror in her hand.

For the title of fairest of them all had gone to Snow White from the moment she had been born. A rare beauty of snow white skin, black ink hair and strange dazzling eyes.

But there had been another title, at least to placate the Evil Queen only slightly. Not enough to stay her hand, not enough to stop the knife she would plunge into a child’s chest, but something. Something to hold _back _the madness that danced on the borders of her mind.

_Who is next? _The Evil Queen would ask the mirror. _Who is fairest to all but one? Who is second? _

_You are. _It had said. _You are fairest to all but one. Only Snow White is fairer. _

But ever since a tiny baby had been born on the isle with sparkling brown eyes and enchanted blue hair the magic mirror had named Evie _fairest, fairest, fairest to all but one. _

Oh and it broke something in the Evil Queen. It shattered it into pieces. It took the last bits of her sanity and calm and peace and _destroyed it. _

She had been usurped by her _own daughter. _By her own flesh and blood no less. How cruel could it be that Evie had been born with such bewitching looks on an isle locked away from all other magic?

It had twisted the knife further into the spite filled heart that had once perhaps been kind. It had splintered something in her mind. That long held back curse at last breaking free. Insanity crossing the threshold of her mind and taking root at last.

Evie had grown up under her mother’s jealous eyes. Her mother had long ago made an alliance with Maleficent. Pledged herself to her cause and her half of the isle. Mal may have been Maleficent’s first child soldier but Evie had been her second.

They had grown up underfoot, scavenger children the lot of them. Quick on their feet. Always having to be one step ahead of their parents unpredictable rages and desires. They learned quickly to bow low first and foremost and always, _always _do as they were told.

Maleficent had no use for things that could not earn their keep and so the little kids under her control were sent out to do her bidding. Evie didn’t know how she’d survived those first years, when she was nothing more than growing baby. She had clearly been kept alive on purpose, some use to be got as soon as she understood words, commands and how to steal with quick little fingers. Because it was clear as soon as they _could _hold knives and steal food, they were never looked after again.

With each year their understanding grew and so did their fear. As they both started to understand just what waited for them should they fail. As they experienced their parents rage first hand for the first time and many times after.

Mal was first in command, and from the very first days of their rag tag gang, Evie had been second. Together they raised hell and kept their parents territory for them at the expense of their own spilled blood. They did as they were told _in the name of Maleficent _and _In the name of the Queen. _

They learned quick to come back with enough food for their parents and enough spoils of war to keep them happy and that it was best not to return until they did. They had to be the best. With the bloodiest knuckles. Obedient to the last or they suffered the consequences.

But Evie had still been beautiful. And despite living on an island of scrap she still managed to make her clothes look beautiful too. She could sew up half a hundred bits of junk to make something sparkle and shine even under the dim light of the isle’s grey skies.

And that stupid mirror had never stopped its whispering about her. About _Snow White…_who would always be fairest of them all. About Evie… who had taken her mother’s rightful place as _fairest to all but one. _

The Evil Queen’s stepdaughter had not been spared the Evil Queen’s hatred and nor was her flesh and blood daughter. There was no forgiveness to be found for the crime Evie had committed. The punishment unending for being born a beauty the mirror valued above her mother.

The words always rang around The Evil Queen’s head. _She’s fairer than you. Fairer than you. Fairer than you. _

Once upon a time, away from that life on the isle, those words had once burrowed their seeds so deep in The Evil Queen that she had tried to murder a child for the same crime. That title had been more treasured to her than any crown that ever sat atop her head and any kingdom that had ever bowed beneath her feet.

Who could blame her, really, for what she did to that little Snow White? Sent her out to the woods to die. For after all, last of all, how could a heartless corpse be fairer than her? It would lie on the forest floor, growing colder on the snow for which it had been named. And at last, all she wanted, all she was and needed would be returned to her. Her rightful title as _fairest, fairest, fairest. _

But fate had not fallen victorious upon her shoulders. It had shuddered to a halt before her door. Snow White had escaped that death. And The Evil Queen had been cast forever, left to live, left to die, on the isle of the lost.

If only that dark seed in her had spluttered and died then. As that title stayed with the girl she had tried to kill. If only it had stopped, left on the other side of the magical barrier. It certainly would have caused Evie a lot less misery.

Because one day The Evil Queen had snapped.

_Fairest, fairest, fairest _had been _ringing _around her head like a drum that just wouldn’t stop. And there was her daughter before her. No matter how many fights or knives and blood Evie spat to the floor of the isle – she was _always beautiful. _The mirror would never stop its whispering. The Evil Queen even heard it in her dreams.

_Snow White is the fairest of them all. _

_Evie is fairest to all but Snow. _

Evie will never forget how she had screamed at her that day. “_You are fairest! So be it!” _

At how her mother’s hands like a vice grip around her arm had tightened until her nails had broken Evie’s skin. How she had dragged her to that first place. That first trade. To that man who held a sparkling diadem in his hands and exchanged it with her mother.

In exchange for her.

_Evie was fairest. Evie was fairest. Evie was fairest. _

Because at least Evie being _fairest _could be worth something to the Evil Queen on the miserable isle where they were trapped forever. Evie’s beauty. Her long blue hair. Her magical eyes. Even if it stuck in the Evil Queen’s mind like broken glass. _Fine. _She threw the word at her daughter like it was a knife, _you are fairest, _and threw her daughter into the arms of certain monsters in return. _So be it. _

And if she dared try and refuse… it was more pain than she could comprehend. So much agony that Evie feared saying no more than she feared selling her body. Pain and poisoned apples was nothing to the Evil Queen after all. Not when it came to _fairest, fairest, fairest._

It made Evie feel sick to her stomach. Their hands grabbing at her skin, the bruises around her upper arms from where they held her and did not let go. How rough it was. How quick. Anywhere. Everywhere. There was no escaping it. Because the Evil Queen’s daughter could be brought for a price and everyone on the isle knew it. Took advantage of it. Scavenged for what they could find that would make the gleam in the Evil Queen’s eyes sparkle with desire.

Evie got used to it. Getting on with it. Sleeping with half the monsters on the isle. Rough beards and rough hands and rough words and rough thrusts into her body. Evie lying there or pressed against a wall with dead eyes and an empty body and a faraway soul. Just waiting for it to be over. Every instinct that she had telling her not to scream. Not to struggle. Not to fight.

It was always worse when she tried to fight.

Evie waited until it was over. Until she could walk into the sea and wipe it all away. Evie would go back home, sea water wet, with empty eyes and present the gift to her mother. The object that was more valuable than Evie would ever be to her mother.

Evie had spent a lifetime too long associating the least spoiled food on the isle with those acts. It was different. So different. Having food on a plate and knowing each touch that put it there. Each body on top of hers. Each pair of hands rough on her skin. Each sloppy kiss across her neck and grunts as they did what they did inside her.

It was an involuntary connection. Looking at the new, fresh, unspoiled food of Auradon Prep and feeling those hands across her body. Smelling the salt of the sea as she tried to scrub the memory of them from her skin.

She chanted it in her head, another endless mantra. _This is not from that. This is not from that. This is not from that. This is not from that. _And tried her hardest to quell the sick, churning waves inside her stomach.

There had been times on the isle where she hadn’t been able to stomach it. Where she had done that act and her mother had unblinkingly eaten the food provided. And Evie just couldn’t. Evie had bowed before her mother, as she must, offered her share too and simply walked away. Anything she could get her hands on was better than that.

She never felt the thick hot grip of shame and sickness with honest thievery. Or a knife held to the throat of a merchant. Anything was better than that._ Anything. _Garbage food or stolen food or salvaged scraps of food was better than that. Even though it was worse, less perfect, less tradable, less valued… it was better. Always better to Evie.

There was always a space beside Mal for Evie when it was over. Mal with her storm cloud eyes and anger burning under the surface.

Evie never spoke about it. She would just take her spot by her unyielding Mal. Who would wait for the light to return to Evie’s eyes while she safeguarded her body. It was a wordless exchange each time, wordless but full of meaning. Full of support. Full of _I am here. _Mal would give her the potion they had painstakingly learned to make. They had traded all they had for the information. Held up knives to the oldest, wisest merchants and thieves. Mal’s eyes had glowed a bright green and had bared her teeth with threats everyone knew she did not make lightly.

But it was worth the cost. God knows the Evil Queen wouldn’t care a single bit if Evie accidently got pregnant, but Evie did. She couldn’t bear the thought of bearing one of those monster’s children. Or trapping another innocent kid on the isle of the lost.

Mal never demanded Evie speak about it. Or invaded her space. Mal just let her be. Never wavering, never rescinding the endless invitation to curl up by her side, breathe in deep and never let her go.

Mal and the others would always be there for Evie. Mal and the others might have gotten fierce backhands to the face and hurt inflicted upon them when they did something wrong – but they weren’t sold like Evie. They always made room for her. The only safe space they could create on the isle was between their bodies. Guarding a tortured girl in a hideout only they could find. When what’s done was done. When Evie came back from a war only to find her mother grinning at her with that fever in her eyes that meant she had struck a trade. Something had glittered on the isle bright enough for Evie to be given away. Mal had looked Evie in the eyes and from the depths of her soul promised Evie a way out.

“_I’ll get you out of here, Evie.” _Mal had promised once. “_Out of that house. Out of her grasp. Safe with me someday. Carlos and Jay too. All of us… no one to obey. Just us.” _ She had stared stonily into the sunset beyond the lapping sea with a sureness in her words that could not often be said on the isle. The only sureness was a struggle tomorrow and pain in the future. The only thing they could predict surely was blood spilling across their knuckles and the horrifying feeling of a knife going _snick _as it slid into their flesh.

Mal could promise Evie more scars and more scrap to make a life out of. She could promise Evie another evening trading herself for treasure on pain of death itself. But there Mal had been. Two kids on the roof of their hideout, promising Evie safety on the isle of the lost.

Mal who would follow up her promises, come death or the rising sea, she would follow through.

And here they were after all.

Mal had kept her promise. Stood before a dragon to do it. _Defied _Maleficent before the world to do it.

They were safe.

Together.

_Free. _

The isle kids knew each other so well, it didn’t surprise Jay, Carlos or Mal when Evie ate really slowly in the cafeteria. They made heaps of room for it in their day. It was usually the time where Mal talked the most animatedly, filling in the space in the conversation that Evie usually filled.

Mal was a surprisingly wicked story teller. Not surprising to Evie or the others, but it was surprising to the Auradon kids around them. They saw Mal as the girl who had stood before a dragon. The girl who played football like there was no tomorrow. The girl who safeguarded her friends with burning, glowering eyes whenever they got uncomfortable. They were _not _used to seeing Mal act… so unrestrained and light hearted.

But the isle couldn’t have just been dread and doom. They had to learn to make light of some things otherwise they would never have listened to the hope in their hearts that whispered _we can make it better here. _They would have just… given in. Given up.

Carlos brought this side of Mal out the most easily. He had always been the most open with his heart. Always the least hesitant to offer a hug or a shoulder to lean on. He was the one who filtered between them all on the isle, holding hands. Offering smiles. Where Mal had learned to always guard her smile, Carlos taught her just how much brighter it made her heart. As they all sat in their secret hideout and actually made room for _laughter. _

Carlos loved poking Mal with jokes, wise cracks and smiles until she _broke, _until the armoured veneer she kept around her emotions fell away and she let out those rare pearls of laughter he sought.

And when Mal broke, when Mal had happiness shining unrestrained in her eyes, it made the whole isle feel lighter. It made the hideout really feel safe. Really feel far away from their parents. There was nothing on the isle more that could relax Evie than seeing Mal joking around in their hideout. Painting the walls with absolute enthusiasm. It calmed her racing heart. It told her undoubtably in a language her mind and body understood that it meant she was _safe. _

Jay’s favourite form of humour usually involved picking Carlos up, putting him on his shoulders and running around. That always made Carlos laugh. Carlos had tried many times to pick Jay up in return, but had predicably never been successful. One memorable night in the hideout when Mal had painted as high as she could reach, Jay had scooped Carlos up, paintbrush in hand with a scream of laughter and started to help.

Mal’s mouth had just dropped at this, at the utter brilliance of the idea. Evie can still see how she had looked around the walls and saw all the space that was just out of reach – waiting for a lick of paint. Jay and Carlos had manically started contributing, Jay constantly juggling his shoulders to make it extra fun.

Mal had turned to Evie, hesitated and then decided _no, I will, _in the span of a few seconds. She had raised her eyebrows with a smile at Evie and jiggled her shoulders. Tilting her head as she silently asked, _wanna get on my shoulders? _

Then Mal had realised something, Evie saw the thought make its way across her face. “ Or I can get on yours?”

It just made something in Evie’s heart burst into warm flames. Mal always gave Evie the choice. Whatever makes you comfortable was just written in everything Mal did. Mal would _never _invade her space or push her or do anything that might trigger her. 

Evie had grinned in response, just beaming at Mal. She had tapped her shoulders in response, “I think you should get on my shoulders. You’re the artist after all.”

Mal’s smile in response took something in Evie’s breath away. The way her eyes glittered with it. With happiness. Mal had clamoured her way over, dripping purple paintbrush in her hand. And went to stand behind Evie.

It had been in that exact moment for Mal that she had blushed an unbelievable amount. As she had realised just how _close _she was to Evie. No gang warfare excuse tonight. Mal had put her paintbrush in-between her teeth as Evie crouched down. Her long blue hair cascading down her back.

“Ready?” Evie had asked, a smile beaming across her face, her hands behind her back, ready to hold Mal up. 

“Mmm-hmmm” Replied Mal, in-between the paintbrush in her teeth, so glad Evie couldn’t see her face.

Mal wrapped her arms around Evie’s shoulders. Her hands _on Evie’s collarbones. _She hoped Evie couldn’t feel her heart beating in her chest. It was ridiculous. With a deep breath and a prayer of _calm down _Mal jumped onto Evie’s back.

Evie laughed as she hoisted Mal up and got her arms under Mal’s legs. They actually looked like the teenagers that they were when Evie raced across the room to Jay and Carlos. Carlos raised a cheeky eyebrow at Mal. At the blush written across her face. Mal gave him the finger in response. Jay was giving a similar knowing look to Evie. Evie couldn’t give him the finger, and didn’t feel inclined too. She just beamed at him.

Mal’s laughter as she tried to paint with Evie bobbing and ducking below her rang content in Evie heart. Splatters of paint rained down from Mal’s paint brush, licking up the walls from her enthusiastic, uncontrolled contributions the endless mural.

They didn’t wash off the paint that flecked their armoured isle clothes. If anything it just looked like their gang colours. But purple had always been Mal’s colour, not Maleficent’s. It gave them strength. In a fight. Before their parents. Seeing those tiny, barely there splotches of paint and remembering _we are in this together. _It was an endless _we have got each other’s backs. _Loyalty that had actually been earned on the isle of the lost. A reminder of fun times too. An _as long as we have each other, everything will be ok. _

Mal may have finally escaped the isle and Maleficent, but it had only been a month and some things would be harder to shake from their shoulders than that old isle jacket. 

Mal had woke with a start, completely lost in the nightmare she had been trapped in. In one swift motion she’d flung herself out of bed, thrown her covers to the floor and was on the other side of the room. Hyperventilating, shaking and terrified.

She wrenched her head back as she made it as far as she could stumble and stared at her bed without really seeing it at all. Her brain hadn’t yet caught up to reality. It was still listening to what her body was screaming at her. It was still looking behind her to what she had been running from.

Mal turned into the hazy dark and expected with every fibre of her being to see the dragon that had been moments away from biting her clean in two. Mal’s blood boiled with adrenaline and her chest was rising and falling so _fast _with fear. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, still looking for the dragon that had been _right there._ It’s teeth had been so close. It’s eyes that burning hateful green. It’s breath hot on her skin. The hiss of fire crackling in its throat had echoed for eternity in her ears.

Mal hadn’t been fast enough. She had _run, _clawing her way forward, desperate and dying and _not good enough. _The whole room around her had been like jelly or molasses. Everyone in the coronation still frozen and useless and _guilty_. Despite the pure unadulterated fear and panic coursing through Mal’s veins at light speed, her body time had been too slow_. Too weak._

And her friends would pay the price. Mal would pay the price. Death and destiny and doom on her shoulders again.

Mal started to come to her senses as her body shivered at the sudden loss of her blankets. The dream started to fade from her eyes as she blinked. Her body was drenched with sweat and her pyjama shirt was sticking to her back but she couldn’t understand _why._ Mal had absolutely no idea where she was. She had been in the coronation hall. Maleficent had been _right there. _The wand had been in her hand – she had _felt_ it’s power. But now she was standing alone and she shivered in a new darkness.

“Mal?” Evie’s voice drifted, muffled from under the pile of blankets on Evie’s bed. Her voice was heavy with sleep, more of a murmur than anything else. “What’s… wrong…?”

Mal blinked at the sound of Evie’s voice. At last a tether to reality jolting her somewhat back to her senses. Mal realised with a bolt of confusion that she was standing in the middle of their dorm room. She rubbed her eyes, as though she could rub the dragon from her vision. As though it would calm her racing heart and ragged breaths. She was in her dorm room. That was all.

No coronation to survive tonight.

She answered Evie in a voice thick from disuse. Barely more than a parched croak.

“Nothing. Bad dream.”

Mal peered out over across the dark room, her eyes trying to adjust to the dim. Not remembering how she got here. Still not quite believing she was here and that dream had been nothing more than her mind filling in the time she spent asleep. It had felt _so real. _Her body was certainly reacting like it was real. Her hands weren’t only shaking because of the new cold.

It felt like she had just faced Maleficent all over again.

It felt like moments ago she had held the fate of her friends again in her hands. Like she had the burden of choice once again on her shoulders. The pressure and fear and burden to pick, to choose good or to renounce it. It made Mal’s bones quake. It had been such a close call then. It had been a close call tonight too.

_What if she hadn’t? _

_What if she hadn’t picked good?_

How did everyone else seem to have this unfailing faith in her? Mal hadn’t even known what she was going to do until she did it! How could they trust her like that? How could Ben have walked into that coronation with his head held high when he had _known _something was going to happen?

And Evie. The way she had beamed at Mal with tears in her eyes. The _hope _Mal had seen in them. The burden of knowing that Evie had hoped for this and Mal had no idea.

Mal hadn’t known what she was going to decide until that wand had been _in her hands. _Until she had seen Jane flinch back from her and Ben approach with his hands help _up. _She hadn’t know what she was going to do until Ben _literally asked her to choose. _Until someone gave her permission to act on the tiny voice that she had always had to crush on the isle of the lost.

_But what if she hadn’t? _

Mal’s whole body was being chewed up with anxiety. It felt like the ground had once again moved beneath her feet. She couldn’t shake the fear. The fear of her own choices. The fear that she might not have been able to stop Maleficent. What would have happened if she had failed? It was unthinkable. That huge dragon had barrelled toward her with nothing but death promised in its eyes. How did she survive that? 

How did she save her friends?

How could any of them have trusted her?

The pile of blankets on Evie’s bed stirred, rising up as Evie pushed herself up out of her blanket kingdom. Mal was still standing in the middle of the room by the time Evie wrestled herself free. Her beautiful blue hair all tousled around her, messy with sleep. Between clawing out of her bed and walking over to Mal across the dark dorm, Evie shook the cloying weight of sleep from her head. Mal’s chest was still rising and falling like she simply could not get enough air. Her eyes still stuck on a spot by her bed, her blankets littering the floor around it like an explosion had gone off.

Evie slipped one hand into Mal’s and the other, grounding, real and comforting, on Mal’s shoulder. Mal was shaking. Her shirt was damp and cold. Her fingers in Evie’s grip trembled.

“Hey,” Said Evie, her voice thick with concern and sleep. “It’s ok Mal. I’m here.” Evie met Mal’s eyes and saw true, bone deep fear in them. The sort of vulnerability Mal usually crushed down so deep it didn’t have a chance of showing on her face. Evie felt her heart wrench in her chest and she immediately pulled Mal into an all-encompassing hug. Wrapping her arms around Mal’s back so not a breath of space was left between them.

“It’s ok.” Said Evie, “you’re safe now. I promise. I’ve got you.”

Mal drank in Evie’s embrace, her own trembling hands wrapping around Evie’s back. Her fingers borrowing between Evie’s long hair, clinging on to the one person that had always meant _you are safe, you are home. _She exhaled shakily into Evie’s shoulder, her eyebrows furrowing as the swell of emotions broke inside her. Mal couldn’t help it, the sob that she let into Evie’s shirt as she tried to explain.

“We were there again – it was so – close… I almost didn’t… choose good at all… Maleficent – she – she was so fast. She – was about to – reach me – I was too – slow… we – you – we were about to die.”

Evie felt her heart crumble in her chest at Mal’s words, at the undiluted fear in them. She pulled Mal only tighter as her hands rubbed smooth circles onto Mal’s back.

“It’s over Mal, you _did it. _You chose good. You stopped her. You _saved us.”_

Mal couldn’t stop crying. “But what if I – what if I hadn’t? How could you possibly have known? How could – how could you have believed in me?” Mal’s fingers tightened their grip on the back of Evie’s shirt as she burrowed her face into Evie shoulder. “I didn’t – I didn’t even know I could do it until we – until we were standing there.”

Evie could feel Mal’s chest wracking with sobs in her embrace. “Oh Mal.” Evie’s voice waivered in her throat, her hands warm and safe and secure around the most important person in her life.

“Because I _know _you Mal, better than anyone else in the world.” Evie’s fingers started to brush through Mal’s hair gently. Soothing. “You may not always realise it, but you have _always _tried to do the right thing. Even on the isle. You’ve certainly saved _me _from a fair few awful situations.”

Evie ran her finger down the scar that sliced deep through Mal’s eyebrow with a weight to her words that made Mal peer up at her through her eyelashes. “Always… always at great cost to yourself.”

Mal’s voice was barely a whisper. Croaked and sad and so very scared. “It was so _close_ Evie. It was… too close. That night, we could have died – we could have died at that coronation. _You _could have died.”

“But we _didn’t. _“ stressed Evie as her fingers wiped the tears from Mal’s cheek. “We made it. Maleficent is gone and she is _never_ coming back. We are right here. We are _safe. _And that is all thanks to _you._”

Finally, Mal felt her breathing start to calm down as Evie held her. As Evie’s fingers stoked though her hair. As she hugged Mal so close, steady and strong and _right there. _Where Mal’s body hadn’t calmed down at her own stubborn mantra of _I’m ok, I’m ok, I’m ok. _With Evie holding her close Mal knew deep in bones that she was safe. Her heart understood it too, and slowed its frantic beat. Her hands slowly stopped their shaking, borrowed beneath Evie’s long, silky hair. Mal was so close to Evie she could hear her heartbeat through her shirt.

Mal’s chest shuddered as it settled back into a less erratic pattern. “I’m so _glad _we’re here Evie.” Mal locked eyes with Evie, pulling back just enough to look her face to face. “I am so, _so glad _we aren’t on the isle anymore.”

“Me too.” Replied Evie, with the weight of a lifetime on the isle in her words. “Me too.”

After a few, warm minutes more as Evie and Mal hugged each other tight, Evie took Mal’s hand in hers with a yawn. “C’mon,” Evie said as she laced her fingers through Mal’s. “Let’s go back to sleep.” Wordlessly Evie pulled Mal behind her, not towards Mal’s explosion of a bed, but towards her own. “You are coming with me tonight.”

Mal had no reply in her throat for the burst of warmth that filled her chest at Evie’s words. At the invitation extended to _stay with me. _

Evie didn’t let go of Mal’s hand once as she pulled back the heavy, warm covers of her bed and crawled under them. She peered across at Mal as she did the same, her cheeks still damp and shining with all those overwhelmed tears. When Mal lay facing her, her head on Evie’s pillow, Evie’s fingers made their way to Mal’s cheeks and wiped them away once more.

“It’ll be ok, Mal.” Said Evie, so sincere, so reassuring, so close_. _“As long as we have each other… everything will be ok.” Evie’s hand lingered there, on Mal’s cheek and their breathing seemed to stretch out in an endless moment. 

_We can be something here. _Mal had thought at that coronation. She had faced down her mother holding Evie’s hand. The strength and _hope _of a better future coursing through her.

Evie’s fingers slowly traced down Mal’s check as Mal stared, entranced into Evie’s deep brown eyes. Evie felt her fingers tremble as she leant over, and pressed just the barest kiss on Mal’s cheek.

“Goodnight Mal.” She said softly. So many unsaid words between them. So much promise and potential. Mal’s fingers brushed against Evie’s as she slowly pulled them away from Mal’s face.

“Goodnight Evie.”

They fell asleep with their fingers still tangled together and Mal didn’t dream of the coronation again.

One thing that absolutely no one could have predicted - as well as the surprising lack of bodily harm between Uma and Mal – was that their great and lifelong rivalry really leant itself to sports.

Girl’s football at Auradon prep had been a fairly chill outlet for players to relax, have fun and play socially after school and on the weekends. This changed completely with the introduction of the sport to Mal and Uma.

It had been ok with just Mal on the team, sure she played like a hellfire demon but there was only _one _of her. Her instincts were somewhat mitigated by the collective rationality of the rest of the team. They were understanding, patient and in the few weeks since Mal had started attending practice they’d helped smooth over some of her roughest sporting edges. Meaning she no longer flung her arms out in a wild hit whenever someone dove for the ball she guarded. Her instinct to use her arms just as much as her legs as a tactic to get the ball was slowly being trained out of her.

It had only been a few, short, solitarily weeks of this before one afternoon as the team assembled on the muddy pitch, Fairy Godmother arrived with Uma in tow. All in all to much the same effect that dropping a bomb on the pitch might have had on Mal.

It turned out, Fairy Godmother’s insistence that everyone participated in an extra-curricular extended to the new isle kids as well. Fairy Godmother had suggested girl’s football to Uma with a suspiciously innocent look on her face. She had smiled, beaming under the pretence of saying “_it’ll be good for you.”_ While she shoved Harry and Gil towards Tourney.

The correct technical term for what Fairy Godmother was doing might have been better described as _divide and conquer. _

What Uma had not realised of course - which Fairy Godmother had mysteriously decided not to mention - was that _Mal _was _also _part of Auradon Prep’s girl’s football team.

This lead to a rather explosive confrontation on the muddy pitch, as both Uma and Mal realised in almost the same span of seconds what Fairy Godmother intended.

“I _cannot _play on the same team as _her.” _Uma spat out immediately as she spotted Mal amongst the thrall of players.

“Yeah like I want _Uma _on my team.” Mal had shouted back at once across the pitch.

Lonnie watched the interaction with raised eyebrows. She independently had been getting to know Uma and Mal quite well by themselves and had already decided they were two of the stubbornest people she’d ever met. Ergo this conversation might last a while.

“Go and find a different extra-curricular!” Mal had glared across at Uma. “I got here first.”

“Well there is no need for that.” Said Fairy Godmother as she stepped between them. Totally ignoring the fact that both Uma and Mal’s eyes had started to glow magically again. Fairy Godmother was sick of getting concerned reports each week about Mal and Uma when they accidently ran into each other. This was her attempt at a one solution fits all for that little problem.

“You can _both _join girl’s football.”

Mal bristled and accidently settled into a classic self-defence stance. This was _her _extra-curricular! Surely Uma could go find something else. Literally anything else.

_“_No! Why does she have to play this? Can’t she find _any other activity.” _Mal glowered over at Uma. She had gotten her off the isle. She didn’t need to give up her sports team too.

“It’s not _my _fault this is the only other team apart from Tourney – which if you hadn’t already noticed _is a boy’s sport.”_

_“_Stupid _fucking_ sexism.” Mal cursed under her breath. Fairy Godmother shot her a warning look anyway. Mal had already received 2 detentions since the coronation for unjust use of swear words. Fairy Godmother had not, once again, been persuaded by Mal’s justification as to why they had been appropriate.

“Why don’t you do, I dunno, arts club or something?” Mal threw the suggestion over in a slightly less hostile voice. Trying, _trying _not to resort to an all-out screaming match.

Uma cocked her head and replied sarcastically, “Oh, you mean with _Evie? _I’m sure you’d _love that. _No complaints there, right Mal?”

Mal shut her mouth and tried to ignore the rising pressure in her head. _Let me out, let me out, let me out _the dragon pushed against her willpower with heavy paws.

Uma had got her there.

“Fine!” Mal spat. “ But we are _not _on the same team. Not _now, _not _ever.”_

_“_Fine!” Uma threw her hands up.

Fairy Godmother tried to hide her smugness behind a stern look but was vastly unsuccessful. She beckoned Lonnie over, “ Do you think we can accommodate this…” she paused, “ agreement?” She said calmly, like two of the greatest enemies on the isle were not standing meters apart glaring daggers at each other. Like Fairy Godmother wasn’t handing two explosive magical bombs into Lonnie’s charge with the express condition that they always be on _opposite teams. _

Lonnie looked quite at a loss for words. “Um. Sure.” She replied, feeling like that response didn’t fit the magnitude of the situation at all.

As such the fairly chill outlet, helmed by Lonnie as a fun saunter into exercise, teamwork and comradery swiftly delved into something else altogether.

Under Lonnie’s hopefully calming, watchful oversight girl’s football was distinctly split into two permanent teams. Mal’s Team and Uma’s Team. Lonnie would be the _only _player who was technically, totally neutral. It was her hands that Fairy Godmother had seemingly placed the responsibility of keeping Mal and Uma from killing each other in the heat of the moment.

If Mal’s team mates had thought Mal was scary before… it was nothing to how they felt now. Their brief foray into what they had assumed was isle like warfare had nothing… _nothing _on this.

It was actually quite an ingenious idea in hindsight. Mal and Uma clearly had bucket loads of unused aggression towards each other that only piled up the more they ran into each other. At least in football, in a socially sanctioned activity, they could actually _do _something about it.

It was like watching two predator animals fight. It did _not _help that thus far in every single one of their matches Uma’s eyes had not stopped glowing gold and Mal’s had not stopped burning green.

But that was the only whisper they let out of their magic. Mal and Uma were clearly trying quite hard to control it, despite how frightening it looked in their eyes. Lest it become a maelstrom of destructive power around them like it had during that accidental confrontation in the corridor.

Football had now become very much an _us _or _them _activity. Just like everything on the isle had always been between Mal and Uma. But this time, instead of the vicious, brutal fights between the pair of them, every shred of their energy went towards getting the ball.

Having an isle player on each team, especially isle players that had literally been leaders of rival gangs, drove all the players to new heights. The games were faster, more exciting and more competitive than they’d been before.

Lonnie was careful though and did not let it bleed over into real animosity between the girls of Auradon prep. Mal and Uma may have had their own issues, but that didn’t need to cause a brand new rift between people that were good teammates and friends. Every week without fail after the weekend match, there was a team party. For _everyone. _Involving pizza.

Because by god if Lonnie was going to try gently nudge Mal and Uma into a tentative football truce she was going to use pizza to do it. Food seemed to be a greatly respected form of… well.. currency, power, generosity… for all the isle kids. Lonnie only felt a little bad for exploiting this weakness every Saturday night with a pizza party. By god she was going to make them associate football with _a good time _if it killed her.

The most alarming thing for Lonnie to realise was despite just how much fury and force Mal and Uma used against each other, it was clearly only a shadow of what they had done on the isle. It was a terrifying realisation, because Mal and Uma were truly _scary _when they faced off during football. It was like they only saw each other, everything else came secondary to the instincts that screamed at them _not to let each other out of their sight. _

Lonnie couldn’t even imagine what it had been like before, with no rules or friendly sportsmanship. Without the watchful eyes of Fairy Godmother – who until further notice would be supervising all matches. With their parents pushing them on and on and on.

Mal and Uma’s fights on the isle had usually ended with blood, bruises and broken lips. Split knuckles and knives that sliced across skin. Sometimes even in broken bones and knives hilt deep in skin and muscle. Their matches in Auradon ended now with a handshake. Always a handshake.

Fairy Godmother insisted. Lonnie honestly thought that if looks could kill Fairy Godmother would seriously be dead by now. The look that Mal and Uma had given her at the _not a suggestion handshake _was stone cold. The thunder that had practically leapt between the pair of them after that first match was insane, Lonnie is fairly sure nothing in that handshake had been good or kind. Despite no evidence of the contrary showing up on Mal or Uma’s faces.

Their new teammates had perhaps come to realise this as well. The fact plain as day before them that if this was Mal and Uma interacting on their very best behaviour, their old fights had been really, properly frightening. Impossibly, what they were seeing now was only a mere spectre of what had happened between them before.

But slowly, Lonnie was happy to report with a similar smug grin as Fairy Godmother had previously sported; Mal and Uma were _slowly _starting to relax around each other. If not just by proxy. As slowly they interacted a few times a week and _still _didn’t end up fist fighting.

Besides, football was _fun. _Pizza parties included. Slowly they got used to seeing each other in the bright colours of their soccer teams and _not _in the _I’ll attack you _leathers of the isle. They saw each other’s faces twisted in concentration after a _ball _and not as they chased each other all over the isle.

Even their handshakes started to look more casual, less like they were attempting to fit every spec of anger into just how hard they could grip for a few seconds.

And unbelievably… impossibly… seeing it had actually made Lonnie’s heart do a little flip in her chest, she had seen Mal and Uma _grin _at each other.

Sure it had been quick, more a spasm of the face than anything long and sincere. And yes, it had been in response to a very good bit of footwork by Uma that had deftly nicked the ball from Mal’s control. Yes, it had definitely been a smile of _ha! I’m winning. _

But god when their old smiles on the isle had been _that’s my knife in your stomach _it was an unprecedented level of moving on and growing up. Mal had shot Uma a very similar grin when she had taken the ball out from Uma in the next round.

It was weeks after Mal and Uma became rival captains of the girl’s football team before they managed to hold a civil conversation between the two of them.

Up until that point they had been funnelling all of their unsaid words into their football matches. Their anger, their past, their violent impulses. Their eyes flickered with it, that same old burning thing. That hate and need to win against each other.

But on the isle it had been their parents who made that fire. Created it from where nothing would have naturally fallen. Uma and Mal were so similar and together they could have been so strong. They would have been undisputed the pair of them, had they chosen to fight on the same side. But Ursula and Maleficent would never let that happen. They both wanted the isle for themselves, the _whole _isle. Not half. Not ever.

Uma and Mal had been the source of each other’s greatest pain from their parents. Mal could still feel Maleficent’s sharp nails digging into her skin as her hands wrapped tight around Mal’s upper arms. Feel her skin break as her nails dug in hard enough to cut and draw blood.

She could still see the dragon, angry and burning in Maleficent’s eyes as she got _so close _to Mal’s face. So dangerous. Every part of Mal screaming to _stay still. Don’t talk back. Behave. _

_“That fish Witch’s daughter should not be a problem for you,_ _Mal_,” Maleficent had snarled with sharp teeth and so much fury. “_Why do you consistently fail to put an end to her?”_

It would have been no easier for Uma.

When practice was over, and they’d shaken hands as usual - Fairy Godmother continued to enforce and observe it every time - they found themselves walking back to the changing rooms together. Fairy Godmother had held them back without the rest of their teams as she discussed various team captain things with them.

Mal hadn’t really been listening. Fairy Godmother just liked to talk to them sometimes and make sure they could stand in the same square meter of space for a few minutes without trying anything deadly.

Mal had almost been tempted to tackle Uma right then, just to see what Fairy Godmother would do. Uma would probably have played right along. Screaming and punching back without actually trying hurt each other. It would have been hilarious watching Fairy Godmother have an aneurysm over their scrambling bodies.

But perhaps luckily, Fairy Godmother had let them go just before Mal had been bored and fidgety enough to try.

And somehow.

Uma and Mal were alone in the changing rooms. Or as alone as they could be. Most of the other girl’s had changed quickly and left. It had only been a practice, no Saturday night pizza to attend tonight.

There were a few stragglers on the other side of the bright blue lockers, but for the first time since they became reluctant co- captains, Mal and Uma shared the same space without the padding of the entire football team around them.

It was a totally new situation for the pair of them and it was starting to feel like it would become a game of getting dressed chicken.

Mal didn’t want to look like she cared either way. Walking pointedly to the other side of the lockers, away from Uma’s eyeline was a sure way of admitting a kind of defeat. So here she would stay. She wasn’t going to make it a big deal – or _loose to Uma – _a different part of her whispered. In this situation, nonchalance was actually a firm step in the direction of _I’m winning _more than anything else.

Mal pulled her shirt over her head in one swift motion and stuffed it into her locker in a crumpled ball. Uma, not to be beaten, curled her hands quickly around the hem of her own shirt. Ready to pull it over her head too.

But then Uma made the mistake of flicking her eyes over to Mal. After all _nonchalance was winning_. What could be more nonchalant than causally making eye contact as though you hadn’t noticed the other person was half naked?

But the game of chicken died in Uma’s hands as she realised with a shock, that she was looking at Mal’s exposed torso for the first time in her life.

She had never seen the scars Mal had there before. Not that it should surprise her, Uma’s body was littered with a fair few of her own.

But it was different looking at Mal’s scars and realising, _I did that. _

Uma couldn’t help but freeze her stare on the scar raised and twisting between Mal’s hip and ribs on her side. It was still new looking, red and raw and tender.

It was where Uma had shoved her knife, hilt deep, into Mal’s stomach only a few short months ago.

Uma had ran, holding that bloody knife tight in her hands before she saw what had happened to Mal in the aftermath. She had seen her start to fall to her knees, her eyes wide with surprise before Uma bolted. Uma had been two streets over, safer on her side of the isle, by the time Mal’s knees crunched into the dirt.

She had never got Mal _that good _before. Never that deep. In that most vulnerable of places. Uma’s heart had been in her throat, beating rapidly as Mal’s blood dripped from her fingers. She hadn’t let herself think on it though. Shoving those _is she still alive? _Thoughts to the bottom of the ocean.

Uma had seen Mal not a week later anyway. Alive. Looking just the same as ever from the outside. Still wearing those rough _nearly _impenetrable leathers and looking like the same boss bitch of a gang she’d always been. Uma had spied Mal from a distance and only stayed on the adjacent rooftop for as long as it took to discern Mal was alive. Uma had assumed that maybe her knife hadn’t gone in as deep as she thought. That maybe she had remembered it wrong, the details fuzzy in the haze of battle.

She had buried the memory of just how easily the knife had slid in, the whole blade disappearing into Mal’s stomach. How it had come out covered in blood. Uma had still been holding that knife when she got home. She would never be able to forget the chilling, haunting grin her mother had given her when she saw the blade and realised that the blood belonged to Mal.

_All that blood. _

Oh the look in Ursula’s eyes. It had been like the fathoms of the sea so deep that light had never managed to reach. Empty. Endless. Dark.

The blood dripping down Uma’s arm was like the chum in the water that drew out the sharks. It made the fervour in her mother’s eyes dance its unholy dance. It was like she could smell it. The blood. And knew somehow in her bones and that empty, evil soul of hers, that it belonged to Maleficent’s daughter. It made a sadistic smile rip across Ursula’s face.

Mal falling to her knees with all that blood running down her side had brought Uma the horrible, gleaming pride on her mother’s face. There was no place for the thin cable of guilt and dread around Uma’s heart. Not there. It was not safe to show a shred of mercy. Of weakness. Never around her mother.

Uma had paid for her own safety in Mal’s blood. A trade Mal would have made too if given the chance. A trade she had made before.

That’s all Uma and Mal could ever be to each other on the isle. The only way to get any shred of respect was to hurt the other as best they could. That’s how it had been their whole lives. One of them hurt meant the other was safe. One of them bleeding meant the other got a short lived nod of respect. One of them slapped so hard across the face for _weakness _while the other escaped feeling their parent’s anger across their skin.

But now Uma was looking at the aftermath of that attack on Mal’s skin for the first time in her life. And it had been _bad. _Uma hadn’t remembered it wrong. That knife had gone in deeper than any knife had ever managed to go in Mal before. It was still healing, in its terribly sloppy way. The scar thick across the middle was still scabbing over. It still looked like it _hurt. _

And yet Mal had been playing football with Uma like there was nothing wrong. Just like how she’d had to be seen alive on the isle, still standing, still strong, so her mother didn’t get wind of just how badly she’d been defeated.

** **

The scar was thick and angry and twisting. All messed up from medical aid that had been learned _on the job. _The area around it was shiny, like a burn. It _was _a burn. It had been burned shut before it had been stitched together as best as it could.

Uma had seen the bloodstains at the market place. That spit of territory they had been fighting over in the first place. She’d seen the dark red bloodstains that licked up the old wooden posts of the stall where Mal had leaned, half dying. As her blood splattered and sunk into the dusty shredded cotton parasol. As the dirt drank her lifeblood in beneath her feet.

There were other scars too. A fair few more which would have come from brutal fights with Uma. But Uma wasn’t Mal’s only enemy on the isle. Not the only source of danger by far. And those monsters didn’t even have a twinge of guilt, remorse or shame in them. Nothing to hold them back when they decided to hurt instead of help.

It had only been a few moments. Mal had just reached down in one fluid motion to untie her boots, when she realised that Uma had gone still and silent next to her. Noticed that the competitive air of getting dressed chicken had died out and Mal didn’t know why.

Mal straightened up. Not sure how to be around Uma if there wasn’t something to _win _hanging between them. No safety net of football or fistfights or the electric tension of potential violence. This was completely uncharted territory for them.

Then Mal realised what had struck Uma silent. She was staring at Mal’s side. At that thick, horrible scar all puckered and sloppy, that had been barely one hurried stitch away from Mal bleeding out. Bleeding to death. Dying at last on the isle of the lost.

Mal reached into her locker and pulled out her normal shirt and slipped it over her head. There was nothing but understanding in Mal’s eyes – as hard as that would be to admit to another living soul.

She didn’t quite know how to say it. How to let it off her tongue. How to unburden herself from one of the most un–isle like thoughts she had ever had.

“I don’t blame you.” Mal said finally, quietly.

Uma’s eyes snapped up to meet Mal’s. Incredulous. Disbelieving.

Mal shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. One her hands gingerly making its way to her side. To that awful place where death had reached its fingers, cold and deep and true and very nearly stolen her away.

“I’ve done just as bad to you.” Mal explained quietly, examining the locker in front of her like it was an exquisite piece of craftmanship. “Or I tried to.”

Mal hesitated, about to cross a line between them. Her breath catching in her throat as she took her hand off the locker and with the barest touch of all, grazed her fingers across that _one spot _on Uma’s thigh.

Uma’s eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps not expecting Mal to remember too. To keep a tally. To maybe have that same shred of shame in her too. For doing what she did. For all that blood she had spilt the day she slammed her knife as hard as she could into Uma’s thigh.

Uma’s eyebrows deepened into a frown as she lifted the hem of her shorts. The silence between them taught like a bowstring. They couldn’t take each step they took into this vulnerable territory back. They had never been here before. There was no place for it on the isle. If they had given mercy to each other, given in even an inch, the only certainty would have been their own parents deciding they had run out of use at last.

There.

The scar on Uma’s thigh was a lot older than the one marring Mal’s side. But it beheld all the gruesome hallmarks of a life threatening injury attained on the Isle of the Lost. The skin was healed in the same twisting, haphazardous pattern that was borne of shaky hands giving stitches. Anything to stop the bleeding.

It was a dark brown, standing out amongst the lighter brown of Uma’s skin. The scar was raised and gnarled like a whorl of wood in a tree.

Mal’s eyes were dark and unreadable as she beheld it.

“See.” Was all she said. The scar proving her point well enough.

Mal had never seen it before. That was one of the reasons it was so _easy _to turn against each other on the isle. To let that need to win, that need to survive their parents push them into more and more deadly situations. Make their punches harder and harder. Where they aimed with their knives less and less forgiving.

They never saw the aftermath.

To both Uma and Mal, it seemed like the other person never truly got hurt. Nothing that got stuck in them ever seemed to slow them down. No knives… no broken bones… no bloody lips. They were a constant fixture of the isle, no matter how much they bled. No matter how many fights they got into.

The best they could ever claim was not seeing them for a few days, a few weeks. As they stuck like wounded dogs to their own territory for a bit. 

They never saw each other’s scars. The ones that they made. The violent outcome of their violent acts.

Mal remembered shoving that knife into Uma’s thigh. She had been in trouble with Maleficent just days before, the resounding _crack _of her hand against Mal’s cheek still ringing in her ears. The cut slicing through her check still scabbing over. _Failure. _She had called her.

_Disappointment. _

_Unworthy. _

Mal had seen Uma on the outskirts of her territory, breaching into what was Maleficent’s half of the island and just seen red.

Mal was just defending her half of the isle, as was her duty, as was her job. That’s what she had told herself anyway. It was also _maybe this will be enough. _To _please Maleficent._ To _make it stop._ To be _good enough_ at last. Or at least for a few days. A few hours. A few moments of glory.

She had pinned Uma hard against the rough brick wall of the alley as Jay went toe to toe with Harry Hook. But Uma had thrown her off at once, brutally sending her smacking into the other wall. A cut had opened up on Mal’s forehead and the world had gone suddenly, dizzyingly off kilter.

Mal had been too arrogant. Starting the fight like that. She hadn’t expected Uma to attack back that quickly. Even quicker than Mal. The brutality between the pair of them once again rising another notch. Such animosity, so little choice. 

They had been in such close quarters, the confines of the snaking alley leaving nowhere to dodge or duck for cover. For Mal to run even if she wanted to.

Uma had the upper hand and she had known it as soon as Mal stood unsteady on her feet. The glazed look in her eyes curtesy of the throbbing ache pounding in her head. Uma had definitely given Mal some sort of concussion. She had not held back one ounce of strength as she shoved Mal’s head into the bricks. 

Uma had easily shoved Mal hard against the wall, pinning her just as Mal had pinned her only moments ago and said, “You shouldn’t have interfered Mal. Now you’re going to regret it.”

Mal’s left arm had been all twisted up behind her back, painfully digging into the stone from the weight of Uma’s body. But her fingers were near her boot. She’d made a show like she was trying to squirm out of Uma’s grasp, which only made Uma grin and pin her harder.

But there. Mal’s fingers had hooked carefully underneath the pommel of her knife and in a flick of her wrist she had it in the palm of her hand.

Mal had let a terrible grin bleed onto her face. From the unknown shift of power between them. For a second they had both been grinning at each other. Deadly, dangerous, cruel grins the pair of them.

Uma’s wrist bit into Mal’s throat, something like the word _finally, _ringing in Uma’s head. Mal had looked half mad, grinning up at Uma with blood pouring down her face. Her smile tasted of it, blood had found its way into her mouth and dribbled from her lips. It looked like she was smiling from delirium, from the dizzying blow that had split her forehead open.

But that wasn’t the reason, which Uma found out too late. Mal met Uma’s gaze with that haunted, bloody smile, her head knocked back against the bricks as she took in Uma’s smirk of victory.

Mal’s eyes had burned green too late to be of any warning to Uma. Mal didn’t so much as blink before she had dragged her arm up from behind her back and slammed her knife into Uma’s thigh with every last bit of strength she had. Uma had recognized that dangerous gleam in Mal’s eyes too late, only a split second before the knife found its way into her leg.

Uma screamed in agony because, _oh god, _the knife was scraping against her _bone_.

Mal’s fingers had slipped off the knife, as she bloody and dizzy, fell back against the wall. Leaving Uma with her utter, blinding, agony.

Uma had stumbled backwards, surprise written all over her face. She looked down and saw that awful blade of Mal’s stuck in her body and the world felt like it was in slow motion.

She had dizzily shoved her hands around the blade, trying to stop the blood that was already welling up around the knife. If there was anything for small miracles, Mal hadn’t managed to yank the knife out. Her head barely giving her enough undizzy thoughts to grab the knife at all.

Harry had shoved Jay away from him at once, running immediately to scoop Uma up in his arms.

Mal had slid down the wall, barely keeping her eyes open for long enough to see Uma stumble back across the invisible boundary line between their territories.

But now here they were.

Standing in the same space without trying to maim each other. A million miles away from the isle and what they’d had to do there to survive.

What they’d done to each other.

Mal felt something heavy across her shoulders. The burden of what could have been so easily. What had almost happened between them. What they had almost done. What she had tried to do, time and time again.

The air was thick with it. With things unsaid and unacknowledged.

Uma’s fingers felt the thick scar tissue on her leg. She stared at it. Remembering how hard it had been to survive. Just how much it had hurt. How much it had hindered her. How much it had _cost her. _

“Do you think we would have…” Uma hesitated, not quite sure how to put it into words. “Do you think one of us would have… “ she took a heavy breath. “…Died…eventually?”

Mal knew what Uma was asking. _Do you think one of us would have killed the other. _

Mal’s own hand went to her side again. Over that scar that stretched down her stomach. She felt it under her shirt, thick and messy. It had very nearly been the thing that killed her.

“Yes.” Mal closed her eyes for a second as she answered. Feeling that burden heavy on her tongue. “ Eventually… one of us would have died.”

Mal met Uma’s eyes and it felt like they were in a totally different universe from the one they had grown up in. There was a weight in the air and heavy on their shoulders. They knew it was the truth. They had been on their way to that death and destiny their whole lives on the isle of the lost.

If they had never left the isle, that death was so likely to have happened it felt more like it was a prophecy than anything else.

How else exactly could their stories ever had ended there? Mal had only broken that cycle the day she stood before that dragon and said _no more. _But that Mal had been given a chance, given a pass through the barrier of the lost. She had made her stand in Auradon, away from that haunted spit of land she had been born on.

But if she hadn’t been given that chance… there was no other way it could have gone. Maleficent and Ursula would never have stopped. That deadly drum beat of _whatever it takes _would never have let up. Maleficent and Ursula would never have stopped pushing, stopped punishing them for their failures.

Thinking about it, really thinking about it… it was truly a miracle both Uma and Mal had survived long enough to make it to Auradon at all. If Ben had come any later with that offer to leave… she is not sure the person he would have met at all.

For what if Mal had died that night Uma shoved that blade into her stomach? Wouldn’t Uma then, deserve the isle of the lost? Who would let a murderer through the barrier after all?

And if Mal had survived, as she did – but Ben had come later… what if Mal had already retaliated? What if she had retaliated so hard and fast and brutally… Uma never rose again?

Then Mal for certain would have crushed that little voice in her heart that told her to do the right thing. That Mal, if she had been let off the isle at all – how could she have ever stepped before Maleficent and decided enough was enough? She had already killed for her mother… there would be no coming back from that. No healing or life to be made anywhere but the isle of the lost.

Even if not then… even if it took them years and years and years. Even if they had endless decades left between them of fighting and hate and war… eventually that death and destiny would have caught up to them. That deadly possibility had been heavy on their shoulders since the moment their parents had shoved knives into their hands and sent them off to war.

One day it would have to end. As everything must. One day only one of them would rise. The last winner of the last fight between them. Their victory secured at last. By the grave if nothing else.

The only rest from that war between them would have been in the quiet peace of the grave. Endless silence at last. Their bones guarded by the stony soil of the isle and the trees bare of leaves. Their spindly branches would look over their final resting place for eternity. Buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of a prison. A headstone made by old friends. The best they could do. A name engraved forever in a broken concrete slab sticking out of the soil. Close to the lapping waves of the isle. So close to the barrier for all eternity, but never free.

But no matter who died. Who got buried first in the tough, pebble strewn dirt…they all would have been buried there eventually. Every friend, every foe, every monster and child that called the isle home…there was nowhere else to go. Even in death. No one leaves the isle after all.

Mal hoped their spirits got to leave. At least get to enter the realm of the dead. Hoped that the barrier didn’t trap them on the isle even after the last breath had left their bodies.

They deserve that at least. All the children of the isle. The ones who never got to cross the barrier. All those that died after miserable lives and only a few short cycles in the sun. At least in the otherworld, the afterlife, Mal hopes they get to see _more. _Anything. Anything more.

Mal wondered how long it would take, how many generations, for bones to fill up every inch of spare space the isle. How long it would take before every original prisoner was gone, leaving only their children and their children’s children behind. Inheriting their leaky homes and endless graves. The soil full of the bones of the dead. Her bones belonged there too.

That debt would now never be paid. But it was still a heavy weight to bear.

“I’m…I’m really glad you got us of the isle Mal…” Said Uma, looking up at Mal with a heavy soul peering through her eyes. Her voice was rough. Unused to actually showing her emotions – especially to _Mal. _“I don’t think we would have… made it much longer.” Uma shook her head, “ I uh, don’t like to think who we would have been after that.”

Mal ran her fingers over her scarred knuckles as she replied, her voice unspeakably sad. “No… I don’t think I would have liked to see that either. We were really… we really stopped hesitating towards the end.”

“Yeah…” said Uma softly. “ We did.” Uma met Mal’s eyes, staring at the person she might have killed eventually. Or the person that might have eventually killed her. “It would have only been a matter of time.”

Mal took a shuddering breath, her eyebrows in a deep frown. Both of them were touching the worst wounds the other had ever given them. Those very nearly fatal wounds. Those injuries were proof of what they were saying. The rising toll of their rivalry. When only spilled blood pleased their parents… well by god that is what they were going to do.

Mal turned to Uma properly, taking a deep breath as she took her hand from her side. Her fingers shook slightly as she held her hand out, letting Uma see the sincerity in her eyes.

“I mean it, Uma…” Mal chewed on her bottom lip, not sure how to say it. Not sure how to mend the past when the past was so horrible. “ I am so sorry about everything that happened between us. About how we had to be on the isle. I’m sorry about everything I did.”

Uma looked into Mal’s eyes carefully, “Me too.” She said. Not able quite to believe what was unfolding between the two of them. This was nothing like that stormy handshake of a reluctant peace when Uma had first arrived in Auradon. There was no angry magic brewing in the air. There was no burning animosity between them. No desire to reach for the closest weapon.

“Do you think we could maybe… start over?” Mal asked hesitantly. Her hand in the empty air between them. “ A clean slate and all that…”

Uma looked at Mal’s outstretched fingers, at the offer of peace she had never expected to get. That she and Mal would ever get to a place where this was even in the realm of possibility. But Mal had grown up. She was the reason Uma had been let off the isle at all after all. 

“Yes. “ Said Uma, unable to keep the hesitant grin off her face. “ You know… I think I would really… like that. Clean slate.” Uma agreed. She reached out her arm and shook Mal’s hand. No isle gloves. No weapons. Not a shred of violence or hate in their actions. This was nothing like the isle. Nothing even like those first, very vengeful football matches. This was something totally new and Mal and Uma were grinning at each other in a way they had never looked at each other before. 

This was a sincere new start. Mal and Uma could barely believe it.

“Do you think this means we can maybe try for friends?” Said Uma, with that same wicked smile and sparkling eyes she had when she was with her pirate crew.

Mal grinned back, that wild, beaming grin she had kept hidden in the hideout of the isle all those years. “ I have a feeling Auradon Prep won’t know what hit it.”

Uma laughed and the world felt lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> Say it with me - Best. Friend. Squad! Also - damn the isle sucked! 
> 
> We see the first hint of Mal and Uma becoming friends in this chapter! Yay for emotional conversations and trying to move on! 
> 
> Evie and Mal are in that tentative phase where they are both testing what they can do. They are slowly crossing the barriers they put up to survive on the isle. Cue holding hands Ft. flustered teenage girls. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kudos, comments and subscriptions! Every time I got one it motivated me to chip away at this behemoth of a chapter. 
> 
> I have figured out who to pair Ben with - thanks for all your comments! 
> 
> What do you guys think? Which bits did you like? I love hearing your thoughts! Comment below!
> 
> Subscribe for Updates!


	3. Chapter 3

With classes over for the day, Mal could not help but immediately collapse on her bed the moment she made it back to her room.

She didn’t even take off her shoes. She simply flung her bag off her back and let it hit the wall with a truly alarming thud. Mal didn’t have it in her to wonder what that gentle shattering sound might have been. She was too tired, her brain had stopped responding to disturbing stimulus.

God her bed was so soft. So warm. So dry.

She still had enough brain power to think, as she seemed to wonder every day, just _how _they did it over here in Auradon.

Mal wasn’t remotely referring to her classes, or the tight packed schedule of learning and extra curriculars. She knew the kids of Auradon were naturally freaks of nature in that regard. Or rather she knew they’d all been channelled by their parents to do well from the moment they showed signs of the ability to walk.

No, Mal had her face burrowed deep into her pillow with barely any room left to breathe, and she wondered just how this bed was _so comfortable. _

It was a miracle Mal ever left it. It really was.

Mal had always assumed she was a morning person. On the isle anyway, she’d always been up with the sunrise. Alert, alarmed and ready to go.

But now she suspected, retroactively, as was often the case with the isle; that her early bird nature had been a product of the isle alone. Fear is a pretty strong motivator. If one can never sleep soundly in a home that also housed Maleficent, or an isle that held many monsters… of course they’d barely miss a sunrise.

Mal had missed many, _many _sunrises in Auradon.

Maybe the sun hit different here, over the trees surrounding the grounds. From the high up windows of the towers. Maybe it sparkled over the sea and illuminated the isle in a way that made it look less like a prison on a rock. Mal had absolutely no idea.

She suspected that Evie might know however. Where Mal clung to her dreams like there was no tomorrow, and held her blankets close well past the mark of midday on a weekend. Evie woke early with a bright gleam in her eyes and worked on her own stuff.

Mal’s dreams were often threaded through with the gentle thrumming of the sewing machine Saturday and Sunday mornings. As well as Evie’s little hums as she worked. Of Evie’s quiet footsteps around their room and the soft rustle of fabric as she drew out patterns of new clothes.

Maybe it was the bed that held her close and safe in the arms of sweet dreams…But maybe it was Evie. Right there. Her quiet working worming its way into Mal’s head. Her humming settling the alarm that lived just under Mal’s skin. Mal’s body and bones knowing truly and surely that she was _safe, _that she could _relax _giving her the calm enough to sleep for as long as she wanted.

Also it helped that by midday or so, when Evie’s stomach started to grumble and the sun was high above the castle, she usually woke Mal with a smile. Waited for Mal to get dressed or simply pull on a hoodie so they could go get their breakfast together.

Mal could very well technically get up on her own… start the day bright and early and do something. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. She had all night to do her own thing. She had the weekly football match in the afternoon and no other days in the week to sleep in and give into the temptation of dreams.

And then of course, she’d miss Evie’s face coming into blurry focus every weekend. She’d miss Evie coming close and putting a hand on Mal’s shoulder and waking her up. She’d miss that unguarded smile she saw on Evie’s face as Mal pretended to be asleep.

She’d miss lying there, curled up in bed, her purple hair spread across her pillow, blearily watching Evie sew something amazing with a sleepy smile on her face. She’d miss that peace, that strange bit of time they’d carved out of their lives to be calm. To be alone and slow and together.

Mal wouldn’t trade that for anything.

And neither would Evie.

Evie couldn’t describe how much she loved working in that comforting silence in the mornings of the weekend. All she had to do was look to her left and there Mal was. Sprawled across her bed, hugging a pillow and very nearly drooling.

It cast something so calm in her soul seeing Mal that relaxed. So venerable. Asleep in the baggy soft shirt Evie had made her when she’d found a roll of it. Untouched, dusty fabric that was possibly the softest thing Evie had ever felt between her fingers.

Fairy Godmother had led her down to the storerooms beneath the school and together they’d found the long forgotten bales of fabric and scrap that had been left over from one renovation or another. Fairy Godmother was quite adamant that Evie could repurpose whatever she wanted.

Evie had made Mal pyjama pants in that same fabric, but Mal had a habit of kicking them off in her sleep. Evie’s breath had caught in her throat that first morning she’d woken up and seen Mal tangled up in her blankets. Her new pyjama pants on the floor by her bed. Her legs poking out from under her covers.

Evie had felt like her brain had short circuited. It felt like she was seeing something illegal. She’d seen Mal’s bare legs stretching right up, her baggy grey shirt barely reaching the top of Mal’s thighs.

Evie had quickly looked away, a hot blush immediately catching across her face. It was more of Mal’s bare skin than she’d ever seen while Mal wasn’t bleeding out from one deathly injury or another. More than just the quick flash of skin as they patched up their clothes at their hideout. Mal was spread across her bed, relaxed and vulnerable in a way she never would have survived on the isle.

Evie had returned hastily to her sewing, not daring to stare and hoped that the bright colour of her cheeks would have faded by the time Mal cracked open her eyes.

Mal had eventually stirred of course. Especially considering Evie didn’t wake her like usual as her stomach grumbled beneath her. Evie had finally regained some control over her waking body and was caught up with lining up the pins on a new sleeve when Mal had appeared behind her.

Mal was still half asleep, and still only wearing a shirt when she hugged Evie from behind. Her soft purple hair falling in a curtain across Evie’s shoulders. Evie’s heart had stuttered in her chest as the lavender vanilla smell that was all Mal’s washed over her. And felt Mal’s warm body squish against hers.

“It’s well past lunchtime,” Mal had mumbled sleepily, her eyes shut as she leaned her head on Evie’s shoulder. “Why – “ Mal yawned, “why didn’t you wake me. Don’t you –“ she yawned again - “Don’t you want to go to breakfast?”

There Evie had been desperately avoiding staring at Mal’s bare body, so concentrated on the task before her she hadn’t even noticed Mal wake up. Evie had been trying to give Mal privacy, but there she was. Right behind her, only that thin shirt between them as Mal hugged Evie with sleep heavy limbs. Her toes squishing into the carpet. The dappled sunlight peeking out from beneath the curtains dancing on Mal’s legs.

Evie had felt at quite a loss for words, “I uh – must have lost track of the time. And besides,” she turned to face Mal with a smile creeping on her face. “You – um, looked too cute to wake. I suppose that might have had something to do with it.”

Now it was Mal’s turn to blush. A soft pink glow spreading out across Mal’s face. Mal cracked a smile, her sharp teeth catching on her lip. “Oh.” She said softly. “You know, I think I’d have that problem too, if I ever woke up before you for once.”

They’d gone to breakfast together soon after that. A humming in the air between them, in the way they’d walked so close together. Mal looping her arm around Evie’s. Everything in her body and soul content and happy and _right. _

Everything that she was wanting to be closer to Evie. Able to hold her. Cross those last few barriers between them. The lines were blurring all the time. Slowly, ever slowly. But blurring all the same.

If the others noticed it, they didn’t mention it. Seeing Evie and Mal arrive at another late breakfast, but this time with their hands held together. Their fingers threaded through each other’s in a grip that was all tenderness.

While weekends could never last forever, Evie had since grown used to waking up and receiving gentle hugs from behind from a very sleepy Mal. Mal’s arms curling around her shoulders every school morning as Evie did her hair and makeup for the day. Evie would usually be the one to poke her awake, still trying to extinguish her blush at Mal’s casual sleep attire.

And now here Mal was, reunited with her soft, perfect bed after a long day of learning new things and Auradon’s spin on history.

She couldn’t lie, it was hard, it would always be hard being from the isle in classrooms where they talked about their parents. As they taught the _great _and _noble _history of Auradon and its founders.

The Princes and Princesses that had risen up with destiny heavy on their shoulders and cast all evil out of this land into another altogether. Oh it made something in Mal’s eyes burn. It made the angry voice in her head buzz in her ears. It called magic to her fingertips and felt it crackle on her bones.

It cast them all so pure. It cast all the heroes, of whose children she sat beside, with the moral victory. That their actions, as broad and sweeping as they had been, had been necessary.

It wasn’t to them, even a necessary _evil. _What they had done, what had been done 20 long years ago. It had just been _necessary_. A good act, the only act. As though bouts of evil and villainy could only get more of the same in return. It was fighting fire with fire. It had burned Mal. It had burned Evie. It was still burning every single child the isle had ever seen born.

But they weren’t even part of the discussion. That awful evil that had be done onto children. That fate, that undeserving punishment. An eternity of torment… without a single crime to justify it.

It was exhausting being around it.

It was exhausting trying to keep the burning green anger out of her eyes.

It was exhausting looking around at kids who were barely paying attention. Who had heard this history a hundred times and a hundred times again… and knowing that they thought it true. That the creation of the isle had been noble and justified and the _only _thing that could be done.

Not Ben though. He sat next to Audrey and Evie… quiet storm clouds in his eyes. He noticed when Mal looked like she was trying very hard not to explode. Not to show the isle in her. Let out all that rage and prove to everyone that she was exactly what they thought she was. Exactly who they feared she could be. Maleficent’s vengeful daughter.

Evie and Mal had held hands under the table. Giving each other that bit of strength they needed to get through another day that their family history was thrown in their faces.

Ben was exhausted too. King of all Auradon… and still he had to fight for every single thing that concerned the isle of the lost. No matter how much he might wish, he could not wave his hand and undo all that had been done 20 years ago. The council of heroes saw to that.

Mal had got through it somehow. Without storming to the front of the classroom and explaining in detail with graphic examples, just why the creation of the isle had _not _been the perfect solution that Auradon touted to its children.

This time they were doing it Auradon’s way. All bureaucracy and council meetings. As Ben plead their case to the Council of Heroes and Mal and the others waited to be called upon to say their piece. Quietly. Respectfully. About why even _more _children should be set free. To convince the very people that put them there why they deserved a chance to be trusted.

Evie got back to their room to see Mal sprawled across her bed, her shoes still on her feet. Mal felt Evie’s hands loosen the laces on her boots, before she slipped them off one by one.

Mal peered across at her through her eyelashes. “Hello.” She mumbled into her pillow.

“Hey” Evie replied, “pretty long class today, right?” She said with a frown as she knelt down to undo her own shoes.

“That’s an understatement.” Mal grumbled into her blankets. “They’re really heaping it on thick at the moment. Auradon’s _glorious _and _noble _history _my ass.”_

Evie sighed, ”I know.” She said as she crawled on top of Mal’s bed to lean against the wall next to Mal. Mal wriggled to her side so she was facing Evie.

“It’s for the anniversary.” Said Evie. She made a face down at Mal. “It’s coming up to _that _time of year again.”

Mal groaned with intensity. “Oh god. It’s going to be so much worse _here.” _She made a sad face at Evie, “We are going to have to go aren’t we? Oh fuck. “

“Yep.” Drawled Evie. “First isle kids to get to Auradon… first isle kids to see the anniversary celebrations first hand too. We could pretend to be sick… but I don’t think that’d do our case any favours with the council.”

“Urgh you’re right,” replied Mal, sighing dramatically in a way that made Evie crack a smile. “I guess we have no choice.”

Now that they had the start of a genuine friendship and a formidable truce, Mal and Uma had started to talk about their new magic.

This found them on the pitch with Evie one night after class had ended and the students of Auradon Prep had wondered back to their rooms.

The teachers would be long distracted by now, settling at last in their quarters, relaxing or marking work for the coming day. The football pitch was dark and only the dim lights from the dormitory windows reflected off the grass. They wouldn’t be seen from here, not by a teacher anyway.

In the months since they’d all arrived, no one had even slightly talked about magic with them. It was like everyone was ignoring the great pressure the three of them now held in their bones.

The magic Evie could summon to her tongue and cast spells as simply as speaking. The magic she could see crackling in the air if she focused on its new, unique presence in her eyes. The maelstrom of power Uma and Mal had. The power from two great dynasties of people heavy on their shoulders.

The fact that when Uma and Mal had met, teeth bared in the corridors it was obvious to anyone in the vicinity that _magic _was crackling in the air around them. And even if they couldn’t feel it exactly, they could see it glowing in Uma and Mal’s eyes. Truly frightening shades of gold and green.

Mal and Evie hadn’t had the space in their heads to truly dig down deep into what they could do with their magic yet. They simply hadn’t had the time or the chance. School left them more or less exhausted, especially with their fairy godmother enforced extra-curriculars and the trial and error of interacting with Auradon kids.

Even so, they had to burn it off sometimes or the desire to fling magic out of their fingertips when they were antsy and feverish with power would be too hard to ignore.

Mal was afraid if she didn’t flick her hand to practice one spell or another, the great dragon inside her might find a way to slip through her defences again. It would just take a moment, one misplaced feeling, one _need _to escape or run to trigger it. If Mal left those reservoirs of power unendingly full, it was all the more strength to add to that crackling purple magic that had warped her very bones.

They spent nights flipping through the pages of the spell book, summoning fire and enchantments. Evie had accidently covered their whole room with snow from a whispered spell that she had barely given thought to saying aloud. Forgetting for a moment all she needed to do was speak to change the world around her.

Mal almost constantly seemed to play with fire. The strange, unearthly green flames she summoned to hold in the palm of her hands.

Evie had to admit it was very useful. In the dark of night recently, when Mal awoke, stuck in a nightmare, all she had to do was open her palm to a small flame of green fire. Mal would hold her arm up and realise, as she did every time, that she was just in her dorm.

It was the flickering green light more than any noise Mal made that usually woke Evie up. Woke her up so she could crawl out of bed, returning only when Mal came with her.

Mal didn’t have nightmares nearly so bad when she was side by side with Evie. None at all when she fell asleep holding her hand.

Evie was experimenting with summoning charms of her very own, figuring out how to enchant her lipstick or thread so that It never ran out. She hadn’t quite figured it out yet, but by the accidental duplicate of her hairbrush a few days ago, it was definitely possible.

Evie had given the spare to Mal with a cheeky smile. Mal hadn’t minded in the slightest. It felt nice holding something of Evie’s. Brushing her own unruly purple hair with it until it was soft and untangled.

But it was just the very tip of their potential. They could both feel it, the great chasm of ability that little snow charms and green fire didn’t hope to drain. Even when they created apples form thin air and made magic bow before the words they found in the spell book, they felt it echo inside them.

_More, I can do more. _

The little spells gave them some peace, some relief from the nagging impulse in their fingers. But it did not sate it truly.

Mal could feel the dragon, omnipresent and heavy right at the back of her mind. Just a thought away.

She had seen her bones all those weeks ago. With that strange purple magic wrapping around them to change them into something new. She had felt her teeth go sharp in her mouth and blood spill from her lips as she bit them with brand new fangs. 

She wanted to let go so badly. She wanted to see what she could become. Who she was _made _to be. Magic had a way of being intoxicating. Power like she had never ever felt in her life, was suddenly just a moment away. She could feel it always. Like it was curling around the very air beside her. A new version of her blood and bones omnipresent around her. Willing to do as she asked. A great and magnificent body always _aching _to be released from inside her chest.

But she didn’t want to die.

She didn’t want to unleash the dragon she had inherited, no matter how much she might yearn for it. No matter that new kind of freedom she wanted to taste so badly.

She couldn’t get cast back to the isle of the lost. Auradon was safe, but it wasn’t _that _safe. Nothing said _evil magic _quite like another dragon like Maleficent.

Nothing would make the Council of Heroes turn on her quicker than if they realised just how much _power _Mal had. What she could do with it if she wished. Their trust wouldn’t go that far. Mal was sure of it. The only reason they’d even slightly consider their case, is because thus far it seemed for all intents and purposes, that Mal wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Maleficent. Mal wasn’t a true Fae after all. To the Council of Heroes she was just some halfling from the isle of the lost.

At the coronation it had been Fairy Godmother’s power after all, that had stopped Maleficent. Mal had been using the wand yes, it had been her desire to be good, that ancient spell from the depth of her heart that had stopped Maleficent in her tracks. But it had been _Fairy Godmother’s wand. _That ancient heirloom from a bygone magical age. Where lives could be undone and remade with but a wish, like Cinderella and her happily ever after.

Mal, Evie and Uma had met up a few hours after class ended, just after they’d all finished dinner in the cafeteria.

Ben hadn’t seen them go, he’d been too preoccupied with his official duties to attend the back half of dinner. He’d simply scooped up a slice of chocolate brownie to go while everyone else settled in to dessert.

Evie and Mal had left the cafeteria separately from Uma, nothing looked more suspicious than the three of them leaving together. Since their talk after that football match, they’d partook in more than a few rebellious activities together.

Ben was starting to realise that the trouble they could get in as both isle groups merged, was terrifyingly, much more than the sum of its parts. And Ben was of the opinion, that they could all get into rather enough trouble as it was by themselves.

Uma and Mal, for example, had decided to hold a totally psychotic game of tag between the pair of them. It had _started _at the beck and call of the spare few minutes they had on the pitch while waiting for their team mates to arrive, but quickly spiralled into a war-like competition at _any _and _all _times.

Ben had almost dropped his breakfast tray on his way to the table when Uma vaulted over it and crashed into Mal. Uma had poked her In the shoulder with a maniacal laugh, “tag!” she’d said before she scrambled away.

Mal hadn’t let it go, _obviously. _She’d picked herself up in one quick motion before lunging after Uma, grabbing her ankle before she could get out of range. Mal, grinning, from upside down had poked Uma in the calf, “tag.”

Just as Uma was about to pick up the apple off ben’s tray and launch it at a retreating Mal – Evie had stepped between them.

“Stop it you two.” She said with a raised eyebrow. “I want to get through breakfast without one of you accidently hitting me with a _rogue projectile.” _She glared at the pair of them. Mal blushed.

Uma lowered her hand, the apple untouched and shrugged. “Fine,” She replied. “Breakfast is safe. _For now.” _

Mal grinned at Uma from behind Evie, giving her a thumbs up.

Ben was glad to see them getting along, but at this rate, he was likely to die from a shock related death.

If he’d seen them sneak off to the pitch with the express purpose of practising _magic _he would probably be well on his way to that eventuality. But as it was he had papers to review and forms to sign. Far too much to sift through and plan before it came time to approach the council once again with his new proposition about the isle.

Mal, possibly sensing he’d be worried if he found out what they were doing, very _sneakily, _but doing all the same – had dropped off a steaming cup of tea to his room before creeping down to the dusk darkened pitch. Ben had looked up as she entered, clearly stressed. He’d been running his finger through his hair as he worked and it was messed all over the place as it was.

Mal had put down the mug of tea and given him a gentle frown. “You alright Ben?”

“Yeah.” Ben had sighed. “it’s just –“ He ran his finger through his hair again. “I just wish I could undo it all just like _– “ _he snapped his fingers, “_that.” _He frowned down at the paper on his desk, stamped endlessly with the official seal from the Council of Heroes. “But I can’t. They wrote _so many _laws, planned for _so many _eventualities… But not one of those included a clause about what might happen if someone was deemed _innocent_. Not one bylaw or proclamation explaining any loophole or system for lawfully getting _all_ the children off the isle.”

“We will figure it out Ben. No matter what the Council wrote into law 20 years ago, _we _can persuade them to change it. To reconsider. You taught me you can give anyone a chance to do the right thing. They might surprise you.” Mal paused for a moment, before speaking quieter. “I’m worried too. I can’t – I don’t know what I’ll do if they don’t change their minds. If what happened at the coronation didn’t convince them… I don’t know what would. But I do know one thing,” She met Ben’s gaze, “we are in this together.”

Mal slid his tea across his desk, “It’s late, you should relax for once. I can help you sort these papers out tomorrow. You don’t have to do everything by yourself.” Mal smiled at him, “You know the others would help you in a heartbeat if you asked. Evie and Carlos are better than me with all this… legal jargon. They were the ones me and Jay turned to on the isle when punching didn’t seem like an option. But you know,” She shot Ben a cheeky look, “If punching’s on the table just hit me up.”

Ben laughed. “Believe me, you’ll be _first _person I turn to.”

Ben wrapped his hands around the warm mug as Mal slipped out the door with a nod goodbye.

Uma and Evie were already on the pitch by the time Mal got there. Evie was creating something with her hands as Uma watched. As Mal got closer she realised it was a version of the snow charm Evie had accidently set off the other day in their dorm room. Uma was watching with wide eyes as snow formed a tiny cloud above Evie’s hand and rained snowflakes onto her palms.

“Watch _this,” _Evie grinned before she thrust her arms up in the air. The snow cloud expanded and all at once there was a gentle flurry of snowflakes floating through the air around them. Coating the dark grass around them with a fine circle of snow that reflected the moonlight.

Mal stepped into the circle of magic and snowflakes landed in her hair. Evie turned around with a smile, lowering her hands to her side to catch some snowflakes in mid-air. Mal thought she looked beautiful, but when didn’t she?

“Nice of you to join us.” Evie said, as she threw the small handful of snow in Mal’s direction with a laugh.

Mal shook it off her coat with a laugh, “Thanks,”

Uma was impressed. “When did you learn that?” She asked. “I haven’t got my magic to become anything quite as solid as that so far.”

“My mother’s spell book.” Said Mal. “She gave it to me just before we left the isle. I had no idea she still had it until then, after 20 years of keeping it hidden.”

Uma let out a low whistle. “Woah. You’re joking.”

“Nope.” Mal knelt in the layer of snow, and pulled off her backpack. She pulled out the ancient green textbook with the same reservation she’d had after seeing that statue in the hall of villains. Mal stood up, book in hand.

“Ok,” She said to Uma, “There are some pretty…_nasty…_spells in there, so I’m just letting you know now, be _careful _what you decide to say aloud. That’s how Evie accidently covered our room in snow a few weeks ago.”

Uma nodded seriously. “I understand… Maleficent’s spell book… I mean. _Gods, _I can’t even imagine.” Uma made a face. Suddenly thinking aloud, “I wonder…” She flicked her eyes back up between Mal and Evie. “If _my _mother had one. I mean, all that stuff with Ariel and everything… “ Uma shuddered.

Mal grimaced at the thought. “Believe you me, this spell book is plenty awful for the both of them.” She shook her head, “I don’t think I even _want _to know what’s in Ursula’s.”

Uma nodded as she took the spell book, taking the heavy tome in her hands. Mal rubbed her fingers together quickly for warmth.

Evie watched the snow she had created glint in the moonlight. It was beautiful. The night was crisp and cold, she could see her breath freezing in the air before her.

This was something she could never have imagined. She was _free. _So totally free. She looked across at Mal and Uma, who were flicking though Maleficent’s spell book together to find something useful to Uma to practise.

I mean what she was witnessing was insane. They were both totally at ease. She could see it in their body language. So calm, as they stood side by side and pondered over spells. Uma made a joke and Mal laughed. Her nose and cheeks red in the cold.

She had never thought to see it. Not in her lifetime or the next.

Even after all that had happened between them, all the hurt and trauma… they still had so much capacity for _love. _For forgiveness. Uma had never heard Mal laugh like that on the isle, and Mal had never heard Uma make such a light-hearted joke.

Gods be wary, they were _friends _and it made Evie happy beyond what she thought she would ever feel.

The first few times they’d hung out altogether, there had still been tension in the air. But Uma and Mal hadn’t let it linger. Snapping their friends out of their distrust and rigid stances. They’d stood so close together those first times, looking their isle gangs right into the eyes as if daring them to stop them. Saying as loudly as they could, as clearly as possible that they were _good _now.

Carlos had bounded up to Uma with that splitting grin and said cheekily, “nice to meet you. I’m Carlos.”

Uma had flicked her eyes over to Mal with a completely confused face, but Mal had just laughed.

“Hi Carlos,” Said Uma with a raised eyebrow, “I’m Uma.”

Carlos had shaken her hand with nothing but enthusiasm. Making It pretty clear he was a fan of this new development.

Uma had smiled with that pirate grin of hers as she realised what he was doing. A new start, in the most Carlos like way imaginable.

After that it got less rigid and Gil and Jay had starting bumping shoulders as they talked all the insane things they’d noticed since arriving in Auradon.

Under the watchful gaze of Uma and Mal, who were doing a strange new complicated high five Evie had never seen before, Harry and Evie talked to each other for the first time in peace. Their two must trusted second in commands.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” Said Harry in that thick, ancient accent.

Evie played along, same as Carlos, Harry and Uma. Holding out her hand as though they _hadn’t _spent all of their childhoods running away from and injuring each other.

“I think you’re right. “ Said Evie, “Although I do get the feeling you might be troublesome. I’m Evie.”

“Evie,” Harry had nodded, “Harry Hook.” He grinned, a friendlier thing Evie had never seen on his face. Usually when Evie or Harry smiled at each other it was a taunting, glinting thing. This had none of that.

Uma and Mal were watching from a few feet away, their handshake ritual frozen in mid-air. They were still trying to pretend like they weren’t watching like hawks, to little avail.

“I think you might have a point about that. But, I have to say,” Harry raised his eyebrows over at Mal and Uma, “I think they might have even us beat in that department.”

Evie laughed, properly, actually laughed. “I think this might be the start of an intensely disruptive friendship.”

Harry laughed with her as Uma made a face with Mal. “I don’t actually know if anyone from Auradon is prepared for those two now their energy won’t be spent on revenge plans.”

“Hey!” Said Uma grumpily, “we can _hear you, _you know.”

Harry looked over innocently, “Huh? I thought you were too busy doing whatever that is.”

Evie couldn’t keep the grin off her face. She had never expected to like anyone in Uma’s crew, let alone Harry Hook. But it made sense, just like how Evie always knew what Mal was thinking – and how to stop her dead in her tracks. So did Harry when it came to Uma. Evie and Harry made pretty great second in command’s for good reason.

Things seemed a whole lot brighter after that. What mountain after all, could not be conquered after Uma and Mal’s gangs made peace and they’d escaped the isle?

They practically hadn’t split up since. It felt so much less alien sitting at the cafeteria with other kids who knew just how valuable everything around them was. It made getting another morning with another fresh meal all the more relatable, as Harry, Gil and Uma looked at Evie and the others with the same disbelieving expressions.

It never got old. They didn’t have to explain anything to each other, they were all from the isle after all.

“Ok,” Said Uma, peering at a page in the dark of the pitch. “I think this one should be good.”

“Yeah me too,” replied Mal, stepping back and taking the spell book with her.

Uma muttered something too quiet for Evie to hear with her hands spread before her. Uma’s eyes glowed a brilliant gold and around her the wind whistled.

Evie could almost hear the ocean on the breeze. A crashing symphony she recognised from where the sea had lapped against the rocks of the isle shore. She heard Uma’s spell as Uma repeated it again, louder and louder as the wind rose around them. Her eyes glowed with light like candlelight. Lighting up the dark with her magic.

_“Magic of the sea, come to me,_

_bend this snow, come and go,_

_Ocean waves do as I ask,_

_Come to me, fulfil my task.”_

And suddenly with the whipping wind around them, the snow Evie had created swirled around the three of them, faster and faster with each passing second. In a moment it all merged together, changing in a solid motion from a barrier of soft powdery snow to a ring of choppy water.

Evie gasped.

She could smell the sea in the air around them, cutting through the cold of the night. It was like she was standing on the shore of the isle. The spray licked up from the crashing water and Evie could taste the salt on it as she breathed it in.

Mal laughed with surprised amazement. “Uma you did it!”

Uma couldn’t believe it. How familiar it felt, even though she’d never done it before. Just how natural it felt in her hands, to hold them out and command that water before her to do as she asked.

The air rumbled around them, like the first voice of a storm as it rolled above the ocean. The water around them looked like the ocean itself in miniature. Sea foam and waves crashing to their own rhythm in the swirling vortex Uma kept aloft. The tugging want in Uma’s bones finally latching onto something. Finally funnelling its power on the one thing it wanted beyond all else.

She breathed in deep, smelling the ocean breeze in the cold air. _Home. _Something echoed between her ribs_. _

_Home. _

Uma let it go and let the water splash back to the ground with a stunned look on her face. She looked at Mal and Evie with her beaming gold eyes and gasped, “I did it. I did it!”

Mal was by her side in a second, sharing the same excited look as Uma and Evie. “That amazing Uma!” Said Mal, hugging Uma with every last bit of pride she had.

Uma’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before she hugged Mal back with a soft warmth in her eyes as they faded back to brown.

They had never hugged before. Uma was taken aback at just how small Mal felt as she wrapped her arms around her waist, her head on Mal’s shoulder. Mal had always seemed larger than life on the isle. But here, she just seemed like a kid. Just the same as her, if only a fraction shorter. Uma felt her whole heart glow in a way she had never _ever _expected to associate with Maleficent’s daughter.

Mal pulled away with a gleam in her eyes, “my turn.” She said as Evie congratulated Uma by giving her a warm high five.

“In keeping with tradition,” Mal smirked as her eyes lit up green and burning as she too raised her arms. She copied the same motion as Uma before her and with a blinding burst of light, the three of them were once again encased in a ring of magic as Mal summoned a vortex of green fire.

“Woah.” Breathed Evie and Uma quietly. The grass rippled below them and all at once their shadows lengthened and danced across the pitch. They were utterly captivated by the enchanting green fire swirling around them.

The fire warmed them at once, pushing back the darkness of the night and cutting through its biting cold. The sound of the sea was long gone, this was the magic of a _dragon_. The wind was dry and whooshed past them, licking heat across their faces. It was ethereal, no natural flame could ever be this bright. This dazzling. This many shades of emerald. It was beautiful.

Evie could feel the sheer _power _in the act. In the wall of fire surrounding them. It was easy for Mal, her fingers didn’t tremble in the slightest. The action seemed as simple as breathing. But it held so much strength. Not for the first time, Evie wondered just how different they actually were. Just how different her magic was in comparison.

Mal was half fae after all. Half of her magic was like hers and half was something else altogether.

Mal grinned at Evie, not remotely contemplatively as she pulled her gaze away from the fire to shoot Evie an enchanting smile. The fire rippled and reflected in Mal’s burning green eyes. Glinting green light reflected off her teeth as the pointed edge caught as usual on her lip. She was still Mal, no matter what her bloodline could do here, she would always be Mal.

Evie shuffled closer to Mal, wrapping her arm around Mal’s waist as she leaned in. “It’s Beautiful.” She said, absolute awe filling her voice. She turned her head from the fire, looking at Mal’s face as the firelight danced across her skin. “Beautiful.” She whispered, just for Mal.

Evie wasn’t talking about the fire anymore.

Mal felt her heart speed up in her chest and kept the fire spinning around them for a few more long moments. With one last flourish of her wrists she pushed her arms out and the fire dissipated into the night.

“That was _amazing_,” Said Evie as it fully disappeared, pulling Mal into a proper hug. Mal fought off a smile as she hugged Evie back, her long blue hair brushing softly over her hands.

_Home, home, home _echoed Mal’s bones, as they always did when she was in Evie’s arms.

“Thanks.” Said Mal into Evie’s embrace, as Uma nodded in agreement from over Evie’s shoulder. Uma raised a knowing eyebrow at Mal as she tried and failed to fight off her pink cheeked blush. She settled on poking her tongue out at Uma. An _I dare you to call us out. _

Uma let it go, Mal looked like she was flustered enough as it was. It wasn’t exactly a surprise to Uma, this new something that was growing clearer by the day between Evie and Mal. The way they sat closer and closer. The hands that reached for each other and were always answered. The soft touches. The adoring looks. The steel eyed protection they offered each other in a heartbeat. They’d never _ever _in a million years act this way on the isle. But some glaciers do melt, and the one between Evie and Mal was getting smaller with each passing day in Auradon.

Uma had seen first-hand after all, on the other side of that war, how much Mal’s gang would do for each other. It was the same with her and her pirates. The only real loyalty on that island was built between the children. But even then, _even _among the core four of Mal’s gang, Uma had seen it. Seen something. A bond between those two that had been like steel cables.

Anything. _Anything. _Was worth the price of keeping it.

Uma had seen what they had done to protect it, protect each other.

But they hadn’t been soft there. All their acts of love had been throwing their bruised and bleeding bodies into battle. Dragging each other out of fights and into new ones. Pushing hands on battle wounds to stop the flow of blood. Needles made of sharp scrap threaded through skin as fast as possible. First in command, second in command. A relationship inscrutable to anyone. Of course they’d fight for each other. Under Maleficent. Under the Evil Queen.

But Uma had heard from all the whispers that made their way around that isle, just what being under _Mal’s _protection meant. The blanket term spread across covering every single person in Mal’s gang. But really meaning the protection afforded _Evie _and _Jay _and _Carlos _because of Mal.

What Mal had done for Evie, when she decided enough was enough. Mal, who was strong enough and scary enough to get those prowling monsters with shiny trinkets in their hands to _stay away _from the Evil Queen. Stay away from making a trade for the Evil Queen’s daughter.

She’d heard about Mal’s knife held up to rows of fingers. What happened when someone decided it was worth crossing Mal’s line in the sand. When someone dared to use and abuse Mal’s second in command. Mal had named a toll. Made the price as clear as clear could get, just what awaited anyone and everyone who _dared _make a trade for the Evil Queen’s daughter.

People had started to figure it out, just how deathly serious Mal was when bloody bandages binding hands missing fingers, appeared handing over trinkets in the market place for food. Just how common place it got, in the rabid few months after Mal drew the line with angry eyes and blood between her teeth. _Enough._ She’d said, whatever the price may be. Enough was _enough. _

Uma had also heard about what happened when the Evil Queen had figured it out. Figured out why exactly the flow of glittering things had slowed so _greatly. _Found out from the talk that spewed and spread in the dark alleys of the isle and in secret, _why _some people had started _losing fingers. _

Uma didn’t want to imagine it. What it had been like when the Evil Queen had drawn that conclusion and followed its thread to right back to Mal. Mal the _defiant. _Mal who had _crossed _her. Mal who served under the Evil Queen and her mother, who dared to _usurp _their authority.

Uma had been too far away to hear when Mal was pushed from that window. _Thrown_ from that window. But she had seen her afterwards. Her arm bound as tight as they could get, in a splint made of driftwood and scrap things. Her fingers more the same. Each one forced into straight poses and bound in pairs in cloth. Her neck marred with deep scabbing cuts. Where the Evil Queen’s sharp clawed nails had dug into her skin as she dangled her over that windowsill. 

It hadn’t stopped Mal from fighting back. By the luck of some god she’d landed on her left arm. They’d fought in scraps with all manner of injuries. A broken arm and broken ribs and broken fingers was more of the same. Evie standing before her knives out like a wildfire demon. Not letting anyone get even _close _to hurting Mal even a shred more. Not a hint of mercy in her eyes. Not a drop of forgiveness in her heart towards the Evil Queen, and Maleficent who had only watched with cold disinterested eyes.

Uma had never forgotten that. The price Mal had decided she would bear for no one to mess with her gang. Uma realised now, it hadn’t been about her _gang _at all. Not about Mal’s image or reputation. Mal hadn’t been trying to climb the ranks ever higher on the list of people on the isle never to cross. She had done it for Evie. Only Evie. To help her out of that hell her mother had forced upon her.

Evie pushing that burning hot branding knife against Mal’s stomach to stop the flow of blood. Not an act of duty. An act of love. Countless stitches. Countless prayers into the dark.

Uma let them be, standing closer and softer than she had ever seen them. Evie’s hand never leaving Mal’s waist. Mal’s head leaning against Evie’s shoulder as they stared up at the barrierless sky.

The silent night descended onto the three of them once again, as their magic quieted and settled down beneath their skin. They stood there for a few minutes more, as the chilly wind made them colder and colder. There was a peace to it, the way they stood observing the stars bright above them. Evie’s arm still wrapped around Mal. Uma close on Mal’s other side.

“Thanks for showing me your spell book.” Said Uma, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. “It’s a crazy world we’ve stepped into.” She turned to face the other two, “I’m glad we have each other. Harry and Gil don’t have a speck of magic in them. It’s good you two do. I would have gone half mad otherwise.”

“Me too.” Said Mal, sighing. “Me too.”

Unbeknownst to the three of them as they shivered and left the pitch for the warmth and comfort of their dorm rooms, Fairy Godmother watched them from the window of the tower.

She had her sleeping quarters up there, in the cylindrical tower that rose above the rest of Auradon Prep. It had a view on one side of the sprawling campus and the ring of forest that surrounded them, beyond even that, the dark sea crashed against the shore. On the other, she could see the dormitory buildings and the moonlight lit pitch, dark as it was.

Truth be told she hadn’t _seen _them arrive. She’d _felt _it when they had started to practise magic. Oh it felt like a song from so long ago, it made her soul _ache _in her chest. She’d gone to the window to watch, the tugging in her bones impossible to ignore. She’d barely been able to see them, until of course, Mal let out that burning circle of green fire. It had lit them up, their joy. Their utter elation in the act. The fearlessness on their faces as they beamed at each other.

But she wasn’t angry. She wasn’t about to storm to their dorm rooms and ground them from now until kingdom come. There was an altogether different feeling rising and squirming in her chest.

It was grief.

Grief for the magical age that was lost to those children on the pitch. Centuries of magical learning… was utterly locked away from them. Despite all the raw potential they clearly had in their bones.

Oh it had been years since that freedom had reigned true across the lands they now called Auradon. In the old kingdoms, each ruled by different Kings and Queens magic had been so loved once. _She _had been loved too.

Fairy Godmother had so much _power _and it used to write and rewrite the world around her. Shaping wishes into reality with just a flick of her magic wand. She had given so many happy endings. United so many who shared true loves first kiss. She’s seen evil spells undone with a kiss, with a wish, with a hope and dream for a brighter future.

Just like how those children on the pitch had held hands at Ben’s Coronation. It had been their _love, _their wish, their hope and dream for a brighter future which had saved them all from Maleficent’s revenge.

But that was a different age than the one they were living in now. Fairy Godmother hadn’t taught a student in the ways of magic in… decades. All the ones who passed through these halls now, who flickered with it, she did not single out. She could not.

She taught them just the same as anyone else. She was the only teacher here who _could _even see the bright aura’s of magic around certain people. Around the statue that flickered between forms at the front of the school.

And those kids… how they burned with it. Fairy Godmother had seen it at once as they stepped out of that limo, and pretended not to notice. How their brand new magic, fighting at the bit to be released had coiled around them.

Mal with her arms crossed and all that fury in her eyes, it had been like a coiling creature around her. A burning green thing that attached to her bones and burned from her eyes. That one was something else, Fairy Godmother had known from the second she’d seen her that Mal was most surely the daughter of the dark fairy Maleficent.

It had been similar with Uma, as she stepped from that limo to face Mal. Her magic had been a golden maelstrom that bent around her like waves and choppy currents. She had seen how they struggled with it, but did not let it go and sighed with relief. She had seen how they bared their teeth when they hoped no one could see, at the weight of all that new power boring its way under their skin.

Evie’s magic was different altogether. It weaved around her like silk falling from above. It rang out in her words when she spoke and twisted around each of her fingers as she sewed. Fairy Godmother didn’t think Evie even realised that she was pouring magic into what she made half the time. Keeping the seams strong and true with her magical desire for them to be so.

There was something else she could feel squirming below her ribs. Along with the hidden grief from the endless magicless years… Fairy Godmother felt the tiniest spark of hope.

Things were changing in Auradon. Those kids crossing the barrier to Auradon was breaking all sorts of ancient walls. Their arrival had started something, and Fairy Godmother had the feeling it wouldn’t be stopping any time soon.

She could feel it.

Things that had been frozen and locked in time like water in a glacier were slowly warming. Slowly starting to melt, move and change. It felt like the first spring of a new age.

Seeing those kids using their magic so naturally and at ease on the pitch below her. Their laughter ringing into the darkness of the night. The awe and joy clear on their faces as they used their magic, _controlled it _and made it do their bidding with but a wave of their hands.

It gave Fairy Godmother hope that this might be first spring… of a new _magical _age.

Magic had been locked away in Auradon for the last 20 odd years. The same crackdown over evil and villainy that had lead the Heroes to the creation of the isle, had also been a slow introduction to the restriction and eventual disuse of magic in _all _the kingdoms.

It had been outright on the isle. A magic barrier had enclosed the shores of an enchanted rock and instantly stopped all magic as it trapped all the monsters of Auradon inside. There was no barrier in Auradon, but magic was stopped all the same.

It had been subtle at first. A slow creeping change across all the lands in how things were done, in how things _ought _to be at the dawn of their new empire.

Slowly it became clear that there was to be one distinction the Heroes of Auradon held above all else. Between what it meant to be safe and sound and belong _here _in Auradon. And what it meant to be cast out and left to die on the isle of the lost.

_Magic. _

They blamed _magic. _

Fairy Godmother still shivered when she thought about it. Those rallying days when the kingdoms came together in an _unprecedented _show of solidarity and a fearsome show of strength. The way they had broadcast their speeches across all the kingdoms, to every citizen watching in their home or castle, and every criminal hiding in some miserable hovel to get away from the law.

Every radio tower that carried a signal had broadcast it. The signal was thrown to every radio station, it was on every frequency. Every TV flickered with the black and white image of the heroes standing at attention as Prince Phillip and Prince Adam, the beast, made their united address. Day after day. Week after week, something new. More legislation. More laws. More _order. _

It had started as they talked in grave voices about the _most evil acts_ committed by those they had just locked away on the isle of the lost. They explained calmly to all in their new kingdom that some things would be seized in the wake of the mass arrests that sent those deplorable citizens of the kingdoms to the isle.

Those books were seized first. The ones that could contain the spells and potions the Evil Queen had used to wage that war against snow white and that kingdom. Certain herbs and alchemy mixtures became contraband overnight on the mere suspicion they could be used once again to send one into a sleep like death.

It didn’t stop there, with poisoned apples and the most dangerous spell books. Before long, by the time the first few years had passed since the creation of the isle, not a single magical healer was to be found in the cities or villages of Auradon. It was no longer common for people to visit their local wise person or magical healer. Soon those who had always had their way with herbs, magic and healing were not trusted with Auradon’s sick or given the job to birth babies.

Regulations quietly stripped them of their ability to practise. One by one, so carefully and calmly it wasn’t like there was a war being waged at all.

All manner of incantations, herbs and healing spells had been deemed _dangerous _by the council. All sorts of tomes and spell books were confiscated on grounds of holding life threatening information. After all, where had the Evil Queen learned her craft after all, if not from those same books that helped healers heal and wise people be wise?

How could they separate what she had done with what these citizens might become? Was it not just the act of this magic, twisted to a dark purpose that had given the Evil Queen her power? The healers and wise people were just like her. Just a step away from being what the Heroes of Auradon so feared. After all, the Evil Queen had marked her long rise to power with potions and spells each more powerful than the last.

They had the same thirst for answers as she had, the same need to find them in magical enchantments and potions. Looking for the future at the bottom of a tea cup, asking the observing stars what might lie in wait. Asking the spirits with a wish what to do to save a child’s life, from the grip of death that came closer each night. Asking a magic mirror day after day just _who _was fairer. Not being satisfied by second place. By answers that were not quite _right. _

After all, the Evil Queen had found that whatever she sought would be granted as long as she knew the right words. From spell books older than the kingdoms they wound up in. Anything she wished could be granted as long as magic still coated her throat, as long as her words fell heavy to the ground and took magic with them. Bending it into whatever form she desired. As long as she knew which herbs to put in the potion and what night to brew for dark deeds not to go unanswered with another.

Soon it wasn’t just the books and the herbs and potions. They went after the magical weapons next. The kingdom raisers that could wreak havoc over Auradon as Maleficent had once wreaked havoc with her sceptre over Aurora’s Kingdom.

It was the biggest, the baddest, the worst weapons first. The weapons so unholy and feared they had been whispered about for generations. Passed down family trees or buried beneath ancient and revered monuments. Stone statues with solemn faces that had magical steel safe beneath their feet, beside the bones of their last master.

In the name of the law, they were stolen. Great slabs of stone hewn from the bedrock to hack into burial chambers and mortared walls. Stolen from fathers and mothers and lonely wonderers who were guarded by enchanted blades, found in whispering woods or at the bottom of ice cold lakes.

Maleficent surely could not have done so much without that sceptre after all. The unholy power of life and death it had gifted her. That she could so grow thorns around a kingdom and make them sleep as decades passed.

Aurora’s kingdom had once burnt and locked away every single spinning wheel in the land after all. No matter the cost, no matter the sorrow. They had wrought their iron will across their lands and people. Aurora was not to be harmed, no matter the scale. All in the name of preventing a great and undying evil that had been cast upon their daughter.

They locked away that monster on a prison with only the thought that she may die there, in agony. But still that curse had not gone unbroken. No matter how much they had done, how many spinning wheels they had turned to ashes, _magic _had found a way. Maleficent had found a way. Following a set of laws so ancient and so unbending their best efforts could not undo it. Could not stop it in its path as it made to destroy their daughter.

They would not let it happen again. Burning all the spindles had not worked, for magic does not care about the mortal world of man.

King Adam had been a beast once at the behest of a witch he did not serve his kindness. All who worked in his castle were turned to objects, enchanted and alive and trapped. The then Princes anger and wrath had ripped that castle to shreds under his new claws, but no amount of pleading with the unforgiving stars would undo the curse.

True love of course, had undone it. Because Belle had looked at the beast with an open heart and saw there was more softness to him than his long fangs might suggest. She had trusted that he could be kind. That he could be good. Just like her son would one day look across the isle, and see the promise of goodness in the children the heroes had forgot.

But not all heeded the warnings that time ought to have taught them.

Prince Phillip, still so raw and burning from the unjust evil that had had fought and banished had been ever more adamant that what they had suffered must never be allowed to happen again. After all. What was to stop a witch from cursing anyone she wished when the world was not as kind to her as she might like? How many others might get trapped in curses that would last a lifetime if not broken in time by true loves kiss? How many more weapons would grant unto others the power of monstrosities? How many powerful children could grow up and want all their great magic could afford them? Why would anyone bow to a crown when they could _make _someone bow themselves?

They had locked everyone who had ever hurt them on the isle of the lost, and swept their great new kingdom clear of all that which may disrupt their new peace. One day amidst the wolves hunting out all sources of magic. Those who went hungrily after every magical item, tome, spell and weapon they could get their hands on with slavering jaws and unbridled restraint. One day in their court, in their new age, Fairy Godmother had to make a choice.

Somewhere in between the years she had served Cinderella and given her wish, her happily ever after… Somewhere after the first piece of legislation that was stamped and sealed on the beast, King Adam’s desk. Somewhere after the isle was raised up from the bottom of the sea with just a flick of her wand… that choice had grown clearer and clearer. It had grown out of the uncertain mist of the future until it could not be denied that was where they were headed.

She had lived endless decades. Untold centuries where she had seen good and evil rise and fall like waves in the ocean. Dynasties one after the other made and remade. She had seen Evil invading the lands and corrupting princes and powerful wonderers. All manner of men and monsters had bowed before its call. Evil would always worm its way into the heart of man. But she had seen good too, rise up as it always did, end after end and banish back the shadows of evil.

If Fairy Godmother knew anything from her countless lives as a Good Fairy, she knew that while Evil rises and falls, it can never stay forever. Nor can good always keep control. Life was an endless flow, and endless give and take between the bright flame of kindness and the creeping shadows of the dark.

But Fairy Godmother had not foreseen this. Perhaps because she didn’t think to ask. Think to _question _just where those first few actions might have lead them. She didn’t think they would have lead them to this magicless place.

Fairy Godmother had stood by the Council of Heroes side for years, as she had stood by them and shaped their stories. She had helped them, saved them and pointed them towards happily ever after. _She _had been the great magic that helped build their kingdoms. Build Auradon. She was the power behind the throne, holding the wand that could undo the world. Flicking it whichever way she was asked. It used to be for happy endings. For breaking curses and uniting true lovers.

She _used_ to be a Good Fairy.

But she had stood by that new throne as magic was wiped out from all the kingdoms. As it was legislated and restricted and locked away until nothing remained. Until she could do nothing with each magical child she saw in the court, born to the heroes and their people… As all she could do was bow. All she could do was obey.

All she could do was watch, as that great looming museum was built next to Auradon’s new school. As the museum of _cultural history, _was filled with all the mementos from the war _she _had helped win.

She could only watch as Maleficent’s sceptre was locked away behind enchanted glass.

As the Evil Queen’s spell books was locked in a vault behind doors no mortal could hope to move.

As every living magical thing that had guarded the people of these lands, had carried them safety into battle and made their crops bountiful was put on display. Put on display from a bygone age. _The past where it belongs, _the heroes had said. 

She could only stand silently, a half choked scream locked in her throat, as they shut away every enchanted necklace to ward off monsters. Every potion kit and magical alchemy tool. Every amulet, every wishing well coin, every hope and dream woven through with magic. Every enchanted sword and shield. Every powerful suit of armour that never rusted. Every horseshoe that granted soft roads to sweet horses. As every mundane and magical thing, no matter how great or how futile… was locked away in that mausoleum.

_Where it belongs._

Everything that _her _people had clung to for generations. Everything to keep them safe, keep them calm. That kept them trusting in the kindnesses that might flourish under a set of watchful stars. Everything gods and monsters had bestowed upon the mortals walking the earth in the hopes it might make them great or make them happy. Everything every spirit from a wishing well had given, every act a Good Fairy had sewn into seeds and spread across all the kingdoms… As every single kindness was taken away.

_Where it belongs. _Said the heroes, with gravelly voices and cold unforgiving eyes. _Any and all sources of magic are to be locked away. Where they belong, in the Museum. Guarded. Sealed shut. _

_Banned. _

They had written it into law. With no lenience. No loopholes to be found. It was clear and stamped with Auradon’s official seal. Signed by their king, the Beast, and Prince Phillip, the Protector of the Realm.

_Any and all. _

One day the last _Good Fairy _left.

She walked into that Museum and left her wand behind.

The heroes locked it behind impossibly powerful enchanted glass. Shut it away in a tower with a plaque by its side that talked of the ancient deeds of a powerful fairy. Trapped it behind powerful enchantments _and _mortal security systems. Blaring alarms and tough eyed security guards. Cameras pointed to every inch of the room that held the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb.

_Where it belongs. _

Fairy Godmother made that choice herself, before they turned on her themselves. With their fangs bared and the scent of her magic thick in their noses. Before she was cast out alone, wand torn from her hand, to wonder the wastes of a magicless kingdom. Before they bound her powers as she kneeled before them, in manacles made of poisonous copper. Before they ripped her wings and chained her to the earth and made her one of them. With blood and fury, made her _one of them. _

Fairy Godmother moved on with the new age… instead of dying defending the old one. She watched it pass and let not a mourning whisper pass her lips. But lit a silent candle to mark its passing, as that part of her died too.

Because she knew one day they would wake up and look to her, and only see someone to fear. They had seen the depth and breadth of her powers after all. One day that tiny niggling thought of _what if she betrays me, _would grow too strong to fight off. One day, at the break of a dawn that came closer with each passing moment, they would look to her and see someone to _fear. _Just like Maleficent. Just like Ursula. Just like the Evil Queen.

This was safer. This was better. _The only way. _The sad song in her bones had sung, _this is the only way. _She had sent a prayer up to the stars as she left that awful place, hoping that they would still watch the world. Still guide its people. Still shine bright and glimmering light onto those that needed it the most. Because she could no longer.

_The only way. The only way. The only way. _

One day _The Good Fairy_ had walked into the museum with the wand that held _all her power, _and came out empty handed.

There wasn’t a single Good Fairy left after that.

Not even her daughter. Who in another life would have been the next Good Fairy. Jane had been denied the magic in her bones her whole life. She had been denied a wand of her very own. As was her destiny. As was her inheritance. As was her right.

Fairy Godmother’s own child had been so _starved, _so hungry, so aching and burning and afraid that what she craved might never come to pass… She had grabbed her mother’s ancient wand at that coronation and with an echoing, truly _haunting _scream had unleashed her magic.

Jane had felt it then, Fairy Godmother had seen it. Just how _strong _she truly was. What power she had inside her. Exactly what she had been denied, by her own mother. By her king and realm. She had seen the fury in Jane’s eyes. The way they flicked from her mother, to the king and across the high rise tiers of people above them.

Unforgiving. That’s what Fairy Godmother had seen. An incredulous, unforgiving gaze.

_How could they have done this to her? _

Janes anger and hunger for what was hers by right, had been strong enough to rip a hole in the barrier on the isle. Jane’s unleashed desire to be free had arched across the sky in a beam of magic so powerful… it had done exactly what she wished. Somewhere else of course, and not at all what Jane had been intending. But _freedom _is what Jane wanted when she grabbed that wand, and _freedom _was what it had granted.

But not anymore. Mal had taken the wand and Jane had felt all that power slip away again. Leaving her behind, alone and defenceless… and once again, Jane was just another mortal child.

Fairy Godmother hadn’t forgotten though. That look. She knew Jane hadn’t forgotten too.

Fairy Godmother turned away.

Carlos, Jay, Harry, Gil and Ben had been looking forward to Auradon Prop’s big tourney game for weeks. Mal, Evie and the others from Auradon Prep would be in the stands as usual, cheering them on.

The day of the match brought with it rain and cold. But Mal knew just how much Carlos and Jay loved to splash around in the mud. Practically a competition between the two of them of who could make their uniform dirtier. It wouldn’t dampen their spirits at all. This match was sure to be full of bright eyed, Isle kids having fun on the pitch.

Their enthusiasm for the game, come rain or shine had spread a new energy to the Auradon kids as well. Ben hadn’t loved going to practise when the cold winds blew or the rain splattered mud up his ankles. But seeing the isle kids take delight in it anyway and perhaps even _more _so than usual had put an old spark back in his eyes.

It made Mal’s heart burst with pride when she saw them so free here. So happy and unrestrained. She would enjoy watching this match very much. It reminded her of who they had been in their hideout. With no one to watch them and report weakness back to their parents. They weren’t alone anymore. The isle kids were no longer afraid to show their _smiles _here. That most rare and guarded thing Mal had never dared show on her face before _anyone _but Evie, Jay and Carlos. Let alone a crowd as big as this.

Evie and Mal walked to the match together in the spitting rain, as it grew heavier and heavier around them. Evie walking as close to Mal as she could. She had slipped her arm through Mal’s the second they’d left the dorm building for warmth. The wind whistled and the rain fell horizontally, flecking Evie’s skin and getting her hair wet.

Mal peered up at the grey, cloudy sky as she walked. It was just the first showers of rain, by the looks of the rumbling clouds above them it was sure to get worse before it got better. Mal wrapped her jacket tighter around herself, fumbling with the zip as she pulled it up. It was new, Evie had given it to her a few days ago as Mal stared at her in amazement. It was _perfect. _

Evie must have been making It the last few weekends, as Mal slept soundly on the bed opposite her. She’d presented it to Mal that morning, as Mal stared at her blankly with incomprehension. All that work, it had been _for her. _Mal had pulled Evie into a crushingly warm hug, unable to believe Evie had made her such a perfect thing. It was nicer than anything Mal had ever owned before.

It was made of a dark black fabric, lined with soft purple on the inside. It had sturdy shoulders, elbows and thick fabric across the wrists. The inner jacket came down past her hands and had holes for her thumbs. Mal was snug and content. She couldn’t even feel the wind or rain at all with It zipped up like this.

The shoulders were lined with delicate rings of metal, like a sparkling chainmail. Evie had also sewn it across the wrists. Better safe than sorry still bled into what she made, even here. Mal was glad, they might be in Auradon, but she always felt better with a bit of metal reinforcing her clothes.

Evie was so talented, it seemed insane to Mal that Evie had somehow mastered a craft as beautiful as this on an isle without a shred of prettiness on it. It made her heart glow with love too. That burning warm fire inside her that kept her going, that had kept her going on the isle and on every day in this strange new world.

As the match proceeded, Evie got colder and colder, and got as close to Mal as she could physically get to dodge the oncoming rain. Mal obliged, putting her arm around Evie’s shoulder so Evie could snuggle close to her chest. They peered at the tiny blobs on the pitch that waved at them from time to time as Evie started to lose the feeling in her fingers.

The boys on the pitch didn’t seem to mind, they were hollering with delight as each run for the ball sent waves of mud splattering up their legs and everyone around them. They didn’t seem to be feeling the chill at all.

Carlos had already slipped, taking about half the team down with him as he grabbed all in reach as he fell. He got up with a familiar sparkle in his eyes, laughing at Jay, who he’d successfully landed on top of. They were ridiculously soaked, mud seemingly everywhere. They could barely tell which team was which, Carlos’s tourney shield was so covered with mud the colours were unrecognisable.

Evie was happy for them, but her teeth had started to chatter behind the small smile she gave to Carlos as he waved.

Mal frowned down at Evie, who was still clinging to her like there was no tomorrow. Mal wasn’t complaining, in fact it was mostly responsible for the smile that had been on her face most of the match so far. Carlos body slamming Jay into the mud was the other reason, including the scream of laughter Mal had let out as Jay had appeared from the ground covered head to toe.

Evie was literally soaked, and as Mal peered around the stands around her, she wasn’t alone. Audrey’s hair was longer than Mal had ever seen it, the rain uncurling it to reach all the way down her back. Jane looked like she was having a blast too, she was cheering next to Audrey. Mal didn’t think it was a coincidence that whenever _Carlos _did anything, Jane shouted excitedly the most. Uma seemed right in her element, jumping up and down as rain flicked from her braids as she cheered on Harry and Gil. Lonnie seemed utterly unaffected. She was lost in the competition, each pass and goal brought a wide scream from her throat. Lonnie was definitely the Capitan of the Girls’ soccer team for a _reason, _nothing would stop her watching a match, not even hypothermia.

Mal peered up through her eyelashes at the rainy sky and frowned. With the exception of her hair, which was slowly starting to drip with water, Mal was still very much warm and dry. Not a hint of the cold had reached through her clothes to steal away her warmth and set her teeth chattering. Even the rain that was hitting her face and landing on her exposed fingers hadn’t frozen her in place. She wasn’t greeting each new gust of wind with a renewed rigour to squish into Evie’s side, like Evie clearly was.

Mal flicked her gaze back to Evie, whose head was on her shoulder, her arms wrapped tight around Mal’s waist. Mal could see that Evie’s shoulders was soaked, she was as drenched as the boys throwing themselves after the ball. Evie’s long beautiful hair was in wet, sopping strands. Mal used her free hand to push her own hair behind her ear. It was barely wet.

It was like all the rain on the Tourney grounds was somehow…missing Mal. Mal felt deep inside her for the steady flow of her magic and felt its answer. It wasn’t her. The dragon inside her wasn’t warming her bones or keeping her dry. She looked down at her arm that was wrapped around Evie’s shoulders. She could _see _the rain hitting it and soaking into Evie’s coat…but as Mal peered at her own sleeves she could see not a speck of water.

Mal breathed in with a gasp of surprise as she realised what was happening. What Evie must have done as she sewed Mal’s new, _perfect _coat.

“Oh _Evie,_” Mal said, her voice breaking with _too much _emotion. She turned to face Evie properly at once, pulling her into an all-encompassing hug without another word.

Evie could feel Mal’s hands reach around her back and burrow underneath her soaking wet hair. Evie happily wrapped her own arms fully around Mal’s waist and borrowed her face into Mal’s shoulder. “Yes Mal?” She said happily, pleased by the sudden influx of warmth. Her voice barely above a murmur as she hugged the life out of Mal.

Mal could hear the laugh in Evie’s words and it only made her hug her tighter. She was totally overwhelmed by the feelings crashing around her ribs. She couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to know the girl in her arms. To be able to _hold _her like this.

“You are so warm” hummed Evie. Not at all bothered she was missing her view of the match. The wild wind and rain didn’t dare to touch her while she was in Mal’s arms. Evie gave a contented sigh, her arms wrapped around Mal’s slim waist, she could breathe in Mal’s lavender vanilla smell forever and not get sick of it.

“And you’re _soaking,_” choked Mal, her voice breaking slightly. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she sniffed from where her head rested upon Evie’s freezing cold, wet shoulder.

Evie pulled back with alarm, as she heard the tears in Mal’s voice. “Mal, what’s wrong?” she said. Leaning back from the hug so she could see Mal’s face.

“I’m ok.” Mal said, staring at her with absolute adoration overflowing in her eyes. She met Evie’s concerned gaze with a watery smile of her own. “Oh Evie,” she said again, as a tear slowly wound its way down her cheek.

Evie reached up at once and carefully brushed it away. Despite the way Mal’s voice had broken, Mal was clearly overflowing with _happiness. _The smile breaking her face couldn’t make it any clearer, Mal wasn’t upset at all.

Their faces were so close together. _They_ were so close together. Mal stared into Evie’s eyes, like they suddenly had all the time in the world for this moment. Evie was content just to stare right back, her hand still hadn’t left Mal’s cheek. She could feel how warm Mal was on her skin. Just right. A million unsaid words in the space between then.

Evie knew then, that something very important was about to happen. At last. Between them. Something fluttered in her chest. Whatever they were waiting for had at last come to pass. Mal had reached her limit, she couldn’t hold it back anymore, the unbridled emotions she felt for Evie. All that adoration. All that _love. _

Evie could see every single detail of Mal’s face. The pink blush that had risen on her cheeks. The bit of hair that had escaped from behind Mal’s ear and was blowing gently in the wind.

Mal’s heart was just melting in her chest. Evie’s hand was _right there, _her thumb still wiping under her eye where that overwhelmed tear had escaped. Evie looked so _beautiful. _Mal could see so deep into Evie’s eyes, it was like looking at her exposed soul. They both knew it, it hung in the air between them.

_We can be something here. _

It was like whole world had frozen. As it seemed to want to do when Mal and Evie were having a moment. It was like the coronation all over again, but this time it wasn’t anything but the magic between _them _that was slowing down time.

It had been the two of them then too. Holding hands against a dragon. Their love, their hope, their dreams for a better world giving them the strength to stand strong. Stand _together. _

It was like everyone around them was frozen too, for all Mal and Evie noticed them. It was like they were on their own frequency all of a sudden. The roaring of the crowd and the play from the pitch was suddenly just faded background noise. Even the rain seemed to have slowed its fall.

Mal’s eyes were all softness as she reached her hand up, slow and steady and carefully brushed some of Evie’s soaking wet hair behind her ear. Evie’s breath caught at Mal’s touch and she leant into Mal’s fingers as they moved along her skin.

Mal pulled her hand away and a smile broke across her face. “_Look.”_ she said as she raised her sleeve. “You’re soaking. But I’m bone dry.” Mal raised her eyebrow gently, and bit her lip ever so teasingly. “See?” She said softly.

Evie gasped and took the material of Mal’s sleeve between her fingers. Impossibly, not a single drop of rain had soaked into the fabric. Evie was astounded, looking at Mal’s whole coat, it was all the same. It was like Mal wasn’t standing in a deluge of water at all.

“How?” Said Evie in surprise, “I mean, are _you _doing this?” she asked incredulously.

“It’s not me!” Said Mal with a laugh, she peered at Evie’s face with that cheeky gin, “If I could stop the rain don’t you think I would have stopped _you _from looking like you’ve just taken a swim in the enchanted lake? I take it this means… you didn’t mean to enchant my coat when you made it then?”

Evie gasped and her mouth dropped open. “What?” Evie just stared at her. “Hold on,” Evie said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Focusing on that magical sight she’d been given the moment she crossed the barrier.

Evie felt her magic crackle around her and something bright and flickering settle in her eyes, when she opened them, the world was different.

There was Mal’s magic, green and insane, twisting around Mal and blazing from her eyes. Evie ignored it, and gasped. Mal was _right. _There it was, shimmering blue magic weaving around Mal’s coat. Magic that was all _hers. _It was like a barrier between the coat and the rain. Mal’s magic didn’t seem to mind it one bit, it encased Mal’s body like it was no big deal.

Evie closed her eyes again and pushed that magic back under her skin. When she opened them the world was back to normal. The rain took the place of the burning magic she’d just seen around Mal and her coat looked as ordinarily as it had when Evie had been sewing it.

“Woah.” Said Evie.

“Woah _indeed,” _agreed Mal.

Evie blushed, hard. “It was definitely an accident,” Her feelings had slipped out of her fingers unasked and woven themselves into the gift Evie had been making for Mal. So typical. Even when Evie was trying to move respectfully and go at a comfortable pace, her emotions betrayed her and just threw themselves into what she was giving Mal.

But Evie could feel it, in Mal’s embrace. In the way the world had quieted. In the way they were standing so close together, in the way Mal’s eyes flickered down to her lips. In the way their bodies yearned to be closer, as every single part of Evie’s body screamed at her. She didn’t want to hold back anymore.

Evie bit her lip gently for a moment, knowing that whatever she said next she could not take back. But she wasn’t afraid. Not a shred of fear shook her voice or stalled her words. She just wanted another long moment where they held each other like this. Evie could barely feel the rain anymore. She was only dimly aware her hair was still dripping water down the sides of her face. She looked Mal right in the eye, those magical green eyes and stepped closer to Mal again.

Evie’s hands wrapped themselves back around Mal’s waist. More intentionally and slow than anything she had done before. Mal’s breath caught in her throat. Their faces were so close, closer than they’d been before. The same air of unsaid things think around them. Mal could feel her heart pounding in her chest like it had been slowed down. She could feel every swallow in her throat and every breath of air she took.

“I guess- ,” Evie started softly, not looking away from Mal’s eyes, “I guess my feelings…wove their way into your coat as I made it. “ She paused for a moment, looking at Mal for a long soft moment, she breathed out gently. It was like they weren’t in a storm at all. “All my love. For you.”

Mal’s eyes widened, barely able to believe what she had just heard. Evie felt Mal’s fingers twitch at her back, as Mal held Evie a fraction tighter. Mal struggled for a moment, opening her mouth but somehow not saying a word. Mal cleared her throat with a strangled sort of sound before she somehow managed to choke out an answer. “_I love you. _I _love_ you _so much-_”

Evie pulled her hands away from Mal’s waist and reached up to take Mal’s face gently in her hands. “I love you too.” She said breathlessly, not giving Mal time to reply before she was kissing her.

_At last, at last, at last _rang out in Evie’s soul.

Evie couldn’t feel a thing in the world but that kiss, as she ran her hands through Mal’s soft purple hair and Mal pulled her closer with hers. She couldn’t feel even a drop more of rain, or a single sound from the cheering crowds around them.

She could only feel Mal. Her perfect lavender vanilla smell so close and _right_. Her soft warm lips on hers as they melted into each other’s embrace. Evie felt like she was finally tasting the forbidden fruit, finally biting it between her teeth and feeling its enchantments. She felt like her whole body was finally awake as it _finally_ got to drink in the kiss of the girl she loved. Who loved her right back. She could feel it in her very bones, calling out and ringing in all the echoing spaces inside her.

_Home at last, home at last, home at last. _

Mal felt like her whole body had been struck by lightning, an electric hunger powering her every move. Evie’s hands were on her face as they were suspended in the kiss that might never have come to pass. Mal could feel Evie’s chest rising and fall against hers, so close, so right. Evie’s sweet, calming scent. The steady thrum of her heart. Mal could feel it _all. _Evie’s lips moving against hers as they finally broke that last barrier between each other. Finally undid the last shackle from the isle of the lost.

It felt like Mal had been yearning her whole life for this, but she had pushed that wish so far down it was like she had forgotten it. There had been moments when it had surfaced, when Mal had felt for a fraction of a second the undeniable urge to just _kiss Evie. _But that was nothing compared to this.

Nothing compared to the sheer intoxicating feeling of actually doing it. Of their bodies so close together. Mal could feel Evie’s hands in her hair, her tongue in her mouth. Her breath hot against her cheeks.

_At last, at last, at last. _

_At last we can be something here. _

It felt like an eternity before they finally pulled away, utter elation on both of their faces. Mal smiled at Evie, her eyes glowing with a final happiness.

“I can’t believe it,” Said Mal, “I can just - ” She kissed Evie again, long and deep and warm. “- Kiss you.”

Evie grinned, a playful look in her eyes. “Mmmm,” she hummed. “And I can just –“ She trailed her fingers down Mal’s face before she kissed Mal again. Her lips caught on her teeth as she smiled, “Kiss you back.”

If anyone saw, they kept it to themselves. Uma might have cheered extra loud in the last half of the match, but that was of course for _Harry _and _Gil, _not the two girl’s next to her, stealing kisses for the rest of the game. Their hands tight in each other’s grip, their cheeks pink and smiles wide.

The day of the anniversary arrived, and with it an unsettled feeling in Mal’s gut. Even the other isle kids right by her side and Evie’s fingers in hers didn’t shake it.

Mal couldn’t exactly place it, but her skin was crawling. Something felt wrong and she was sure it wasn’t just the fact that the heroes of Auradon were on the dais before her. Today after all, was the 21st year of the great kingdom of Auradon. It would be amiss if its founders were _not _here, on this most…revered… of celebrations. She knew that dread, she’d been feeling it for weeks in anticipation. This was different than that low, angry hum in her chest. There was something else. Something _wrong. _

The isle kids all stood together. Looking upon the dais before them with dark eyes. The people before them had been both their judge and jury. For the first time in their lifetimes, the isle kids saw the people who had been responsible for their fate, in the flesh before them. These were the people who had decided that they were not worth saving.

The crowd around them was _huge. _Ben had insisted the isle kids come today, it was his first time presiding over the ceremony after all. He had got them a spot front and centre so he could look over at the crowd and see friendly faces. They didn’t look too friendly today though. Although Mal did give Ben a smile every time he looked her way, the lines on her faces were tight and wary. He didn’t notice from his spot up there, he just smiled back with nervous anticipation.

The crowds jostled all around them, trying to get closer and closer to the raised dais that had been constructed before the museum of cultural history. But Mal had no desire to get even closer. Mal could see the Heroes just fine from where they were. Her gaze was hard and unforgiving as she looked at them all. As they stood behind the King’s podium in their ceremonial finery with their jewel embedded swords at their sides. They stared at the crowds before them with impassive eyes and their hands on their hilts.

It all looked just the same as Mal had ever seen it. They had broadcast this ceremony to the isle every year after all. The grounds before Mal looked exactly as she had seen for as long as she could remember. The dais was the same as always, but this time a different king stood behind the podium. The blue and yellow flags of Auradon flanked the platform, great big banners that unfurled into the wind. The museum of cultural history rose as tall and intimidating as usual. The gardens surrounding It were bright and pristine and a huge stone water fountain rose up behind the dais, immortalising the very heroes before them in stone.

The ceremony for Auradon’s anniversary was one of the only reliable bits of news or contact from Auradon the Isle ever got. Reception was hard to come by on the isle. The TV’s they could get working mostly picked up static and undecipherable black and white video. Other times no image appeared, but distorted hard to make out voices crackled out of the speakers.

Mal did remember one heavenly afternoon however, as they had all hid together in their hideout, when Carlos had got their TV to work. It had flickered to life every so often before, held together with Carlos’s sheer willpower, sparking out garbled sound. But that one sweet night, they had tuned into _music. _Real, actual, _beautiful _music.

It had been like nothing Mal and the others had ever heard. They hadn’t known who was singing, or what instruments were playing. Or even what sounds in the beat belonged to the song, and which were added by the shifting cracking signal. But it had been heaven, if only for a night, on the isle of the lost.

It wasn’t as if there was _no _music on the isle, however. They all heard it sometimes. Some lonely singer with some lonely instrument strumming out a sad song to the stars. Winding its way down the dark streets of the isle and findings its way into their ears.

She’d heard that song once, as Mal knelt against a wall with rain dripping down her whole body. With her hair stuck to her face and a cold knife wet in her hands. It had felt like a pause, or a breath from some other life. It hadn’t lasted long of course, even though the song kept being sung, Mal couldn’t lean against that wall forever. Not while she was sneaking through the alley ways to get home safe. She had no more than a few moments to look up, prick her ears to listen before she moved on.

Other times it was around fires. A drum beat on the tin walls and odd hollow parts around them, an echoing chanting song by all those gathered around the flames. Mal thought they must have been songs from their old lives, because everyone seemed to know them. Perhaps the thieves from the mainland had sung them there, in their camps of outlaws as they returned home from their troubles.

Even Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay sung sometimes. Not anywhere as brave as the open isle or a high up window. They sung, soft and quiet songs they’d been picking up from the thieves and drummers. They can’t have been proper Auradon songs, they were all pretty rough. About stealing jewels and running home to your family. About going on the lam away from the law. About what to do when the lord of the castle asked you to bow. How to saw away prison bars and sneak out under a full moon.

Apart from that night they’d managed to tune into those beautiful Auradon songs, it was an almost impossible task to get reception from Auradon on the isle. Even when people did manage to tune into a blurry frequency correctly, it was of little use. They didn’t get _true _news. Whatever they saw gave them no insight on what was actually happening in Auradon. It was usually puff pieces on the Royal Family or something equally useless.

Mal had seen a lot of Ben’s life that way, before she knew him. Shots of the young prince Ben attending official events. Shots of him side by side his huge beast of a father and his young, beautiful mother. Mal had seen the castle behind them, that red carpet they walked on and the heroes they met and shook hands with. They never got proper news, but boy they got a fair bit of propaganda.

Because no matter what piece of junk TV everyone managed to get their hands on, come Anniversary day, the signal would come through as clear as day. TV’s that had _never _in their lives managed to get a signal from anything, were suddenly showing the dais, the king and the heroes in utter perfection.

Mal had learned then, as the isle lit up with the official ceremony, from every abandoned TV or propped up piece of junk in living rooms and hideouts, that if Auradon wanted to help them, they could at any time. That if they wanted the signal to reach, nothing was stopping it but _Auradon’s desire. _The TV’s showed Auradon’s Anniversary celebrations every year. It replayed King Adam’s, the beast’s coronation. It sent through stories about the Museum of Cultural History. It showed the grand games the King and Queen attended at Auradon Prep.

But they did not show music. Not on purpose anyway.

Mal had seen the crowds every year. The swarming, cheering masses waving Auradon flags in their hands. She had seen how they seemed to disappear into the distance, getting smaller and smaller. They got so far away that the huge banners of Auradon that lined the gardens looked no bigger than her fingerprints as she held them up to the screen. She’d never expected to be among them. On this soil, watching the events unfold for herself.

Mal, of course, didn’t exactly want to be there. Attending a ceremony that lauded the creation of the isle of the lost. None of the other isle kids did either, they were all standing together with that same isle hardened looks on their faces. Mal couldn’t help but remember that familiar mantra as she stood before the dais for the first time in her life. _Don’t let them see you bleed. _

They were there for Ben, of course, but it was also more complicated than that. This was a show, a test. The first meeting between the Isle children and the heroes of Auradon. No matter how much Mal wanted to ignore them, ignore this whole ceremony._ Try to make a good impression. _Ben had whispered to Mal before they left dinner the previous night.

The worry in his eyes had told Mal enough. This appearance of theirs was important. The isle kids would be setting their case before the Council in the coming weeks. Presenting their testimony and evidence for Ben’s new motion to get _all _the children off the isle. It was already stony ground with the heroes… Mal and the others had already started on the wrong foot because of where they had been born. Ben’s warning had made it very clear. They had to be on their _best behaviour _today.

They had to show the Council that they could be civil. They could obey. Mal would prove it. Mal would stand here and suffer through this ceremony. For all those kids on the isle. For Ben. But she would not be letting go of Evie’s hand. Not for a second.

The isle kids were all dressed in the best clothes they owned. Disgruntled, but in their best clothes none the less. Mal didn’t like it. Having to be _nice. _It felt so unfair they had to come here, listen to speeches about how great the isle was when they were living proof it wasn’t. If Mal had her way, if Mal let go to that hum of anger in her bones she would have arrived in those isle clothes. The ones studded through with metal. With scrap reinforcing the joints and covering the shoulders. Mal would have arrived with those knuckleduster gloves, the chain covered boots. She would have looked up at the heroes with that scar that split her eyebrow and more that gripped her neck in the pattern left by the Evil Queen’s nails and shown them just what their choices had made them become.

But she didn’t. They were dressed in the fineries too. Clothes that were nothing like the war torn clothes they had arrived in. _Make a good impression. _Ben had said.

Ben had helped them secure the clothes, well, he’d told Evie what kind of things would be appropriate and Evie had of course, added her own spin with that deadly smile of hers.

Ben had dressed them up in real, honest to goodness Auradon clothes a few weeks ago. To show Evie and the others what most other people attending the ceremony would be wearing. He’d stolen a bunch from the castle, probably from the Royal Families extensive collection. They’d all made faces at him, but agreed to try them on.

Mal had stolen _Ben’s _jacket in retaliation. It was different from his coronation suit. If possible, it had _more _shiny golden embroidery on it. The shoulders were heavy under the weight of tasselled gold epaulettes. A gold braided rope was pinned under the lapel of his collar and went a few times over his shoulder. There was gold detail all over it, near the cuffs and around the buttoned collar especially. It showed with every inch that it was the outfit of a king.

“Woah,” Mal had said as she looked in the mirror as Ben spluttered after her. She looked so _regal. _Almost like she was actually a princess. Her hair did clash horribly with the blue of Ben’s suit though. It was too bright and purple. The gold though… that suited Mal just fine.

Mal had buttoned it up, raising that cheeky eyebrow at Ben as he came, resigned, to stand beside her. He was trying to hide it but Mal could tell he was having fun. He needed to relax a bit that boy, and she’d be damned if Mal wasn’t going to help him crack a smile every once in a while in the lead up to this huge event. Ben’s jacket was far too big on her. The shoulders slipped off her own and it went well past her hands. But Mal was not was not perturbed. She simply pushed the sleeves back to her elbows and grinned.

Evie came up to her at once, with a wide smile on her face. “Ok,” she had said as she looked Mal up and down, “Not going to lie this is really doing it for me.” Evie knelt down for a moment by Mal’s side. Taking the loose sleeve and properly rolling it back so it didn’t drown Mal’s hands.

“Thanks,” Said Mal as she took a regal stance, “You can be my Queen if you like.” She raised an eyebrow at Evie with a smile. “I mean that dress, you’re practically royalty.”

Evie was wearing a long, dark dress that was cut low and draped across the floor as she walked. Her hair was swept straight over one shoulder and she had somehow managed to find a bejewelled necklace to fasten across her throat. She looked every inch a princess. Her mother _had _been a Queen here after all. One of the many kingdoms that now made up Auradon.

Ben had brought some of the dresses Audrey wore to official events. That’s how they’d known each other for so long after all. Where King Adam, the beast went, so did Ben. Where Prince Phillip, Protector of the Realm went, so did Audrey. They’d been nicely dressed, side by side at these events for as long as either of them could remember.

Evie had pulled Mal to her with Ben’s coat collar to kiss her softly. “I think I can vibe with a dress like this,” Said Evie, flicking her eyes across Mal as she pretended to be royalty. “And I think _you _would suit a formal jacket of your own.”

Evie was of the opinion that just because none of them were pleased about having to attend the ceremony, it _didn’t _mean they couldn’t wear outstanding outfits. Besides they were still from the isle. They could be dressed up to the high heavens and still look like they were from that cursed rock in the sea. And that’s exactly what Evie planned to do.

Despite the fact that the cut of Evie’s dress, the boy’s formal suits, and Mal’s outfit were all technically Auradon in nature and origin, Evie had let more than a little of the isle bleed into what she was making herself and her friends.

Evie’s dress was beautiful, Mal could hardly breathe when she’s put it on that afternoon, just before they left for the ceremony. It was cut low, made from a rich blue silk a few shades darker than her hair. It hugged her body with simple twists and spirals as it met at her waist and then fell seamlessly to the ground. The front ended just after her knees and the back hung just off the ground.

The dress may have been all Auradon, but the coat was all Evie. It was draped elegantly across Evie’s shoulders. It looked beautiful, but Mal knew Evie had reinforced it, and there was a long, slim knife hidden in the sleeve.

The jacket was a dark velvet black, adorned with silver. It complimented the dress and gave the outfit the edge Evie had intended. Much like the jacket she’d made Mal, she’d enchanted fine links of silver metal along the wrists and shoulders. It looked just like decoration. But Mal knew better. She knew those links would not break if she needed them to protect her.

They had to dress nice to blend in to this celebration, but all the isle kids felt better going to this place, with those heroes right there, with a little bit of protection. There were a fair few knives hidden out of sight but well within reach between them all. Mal herself had snuck her knife into her boot. It rested heavily against her ankle, its weight was comforting, like Evie’s warm fingers in her own.

If it wasn’t for their hair, bright and colourful as it was, the isle kids might have blended in with the children of the heroes. Evie especially. She had kept that necklace, Audrey must have lent it to her. Huge, bright red rubies gleamed across her throat and in her long blue hair, a silver diadem nestled. Not quite a diadem exactly… but a thin intricate chain of sliver looped around her hair and rested at the very crest of her forehead.

It might have been mistaken for a crown. Not that Evie had been intending that at all. Reminding the heroes that _she _was royalty too. They may have taken her rightful inheritance, passed it off to some unknown lord or lady… But Evie was a princess here. Evie had always been a princess here. If that’s what they saw when they looked at her, regal, strong and beautiful… well that was on them.

Mal’s own outfit was exquisite too. They looked quite a pair. Looked quite a group really. Mal’s outfit hugged her body too, casting her in the elegant, deadly light Evie had intended. She had skin-tight pants on, cut in that high waisted, brass buckled style suited to the high class nature of the event. But instead of the sturdy, good quality fabric that clothed the heroes and their sons before them, Mal’s outfit was made from dark leather. It almost looked purple, it had a sheen to it that wasn’t quite black or brown.

Her shirt was flowing, elegant and cotton. It was soft against Mal’s skin and buttoned at her throat with a gleaming gold clasp. Finally, Mal’s jacket was cut short, like a fashion forward version of her old isle jacket. It was made from the same _almost _purple leather as her pants. It fitted Mal absurdly well, it didn’t dwarf her like Ben’s jacket had, and didn’t fall straight past her hips in a line. This jacket narrowed in at her waist and hugged her wrists.

Much like Evie’s, Mal’s jacket had the look of pretty ornamentation. It had gold embroidery on the cuffs of the sleeves and the collar. With rings of metal gleaming going down the sleeves and in elegant rows across her shoulders. But it was strong too, Mal could feel its weight as she had slipped it on. _Safe. _It would keep her _safe. _

Lastly, Audrey had slipped Mal some jewellery too. As had Ben. Looking out for them the only way they could at this event. Making them blend in yes, but letting them stand out surprisingly well dressed to those who expected so badly of them.

Mal’s neck shone with golden necklaces, with small emeralds glistening from the hollow of her throat and swinging from long chains. At her waist a dark belt with gold fastenings held her outfit together. Her soft purple hair lightly curled, brushed across her shoulders and fell behind her back. Standing out bright against the dark leathers of her outfit.

The rest of the isle kids were dressed similarly in a mix of Evie made Auradon clothes, accompanied by some more isle-like jacket, boots or clothes and outfitted with seemingly all the jewellery Audrey and Ben could get their hands on. Uma was wearing a turquoise green dress, with a neckline covered in pearls. Her jacket was similar to Mal’s, just that little touch of _pirate. _

They were sending the heroes their own message too. _We are more than you think we are. _

Ben had only just lead them to this spot 15 minutes ago or so, before he made his way up to his place on the dais. But Mal’s skin was still crawling. No matter how much she tried to push the feeling of _wrongness _aside, it kept growing and gnawing in her gut. Mal tightened her grip on Evie’s fingers. _Its ok. _She tried to tell herself. _Its ok. _

The ceremony was about to start. Mal could see the cameras in place that would be broadcasting this across the kingdom and the isle. Ben was talking quietly to one of the heroes or another, standing side by side with his father. King Adam had a proud look on his face as he gave his son a firm pat on the shoulder.

But Mal could barely concentrate on them. It was like something was in the air only she could hear. It was like her magic was warning her of something. Mal could feel it wriggle around her, its grip on her bones tight and afraid. Mal could feel its desire, it was coiling and reacting around her like a snake.

_Something was coming. _

Mal flicked her eyes to Evie at once, and with some alarm she realised Evie had started to feel it too. Evie felt magic different to the rest of them and she was looking around the crowd surrounding them with wide eyes.

_They were in danger. _

Mal tugged on her hand, and they met each other’s gaze. They could both read the fear there, deep in each other’s eyes.

“What is it?” Whispered Mal in a hoarse voice. “Can you feel it?”

Evie nodded, quick and afraid. “I don’t know… Mal, I think somethings coming.” She said in the same low, quiet voice as Mal. “Something dangerous.”

The air was still and the crowd quieted around them as Ben stepped up to the podium. The world seemed to have paused for thought. The heroes looked just as bored and resolute as ever. Twenty years of the same event might lull Mal into a false sense of security too; if she ever got the chance to live that long. Ben stood up to the platform with the confidence of a king, and surveyed his people with calm, authoritative eyes.

Uma made her way to stand beside Evie and Mal. “Can you feel it?” She said in a low hum. Not breaking her gaze away from the ceremony. Looking every inch like everything was fine.

“Yes.” Said Mal, not looking at her. She cast her eyes quickly at the distance behind the podium. It felt like a low hum was building in her ears. From the way Evie and Uma were grimacing, they felt it just the same as her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. But something is.” Mal continued in a low voice. She nodded her head back towards the other isle kids, who were magicless and blissfully unaware. “Tell the others.” Mal said in a dangerous voice. “Warn them.”

“Tell them to keep their eyes peeled.” Added Evie.

Uma nodded, the nod of the girl who had lead gangs to war and back. She went back to the others as quietly as she had come. Setting off the chain of whispers that would hopefully prepare them for what was to come. _If _anything was to come…

Ben started his speech. “People of Auradon, we are gathered here today to celebrate the 21st year of our great nation. It was 21 years ago today, that my father and the heroes you see beside me… turned their individual kingdoms into one great state of peace and prosperity…”

Ben continued, with the same speech as his father had said before him, but Mal could barely focus on the words. Her skin was crawling, it was like something in Mal’s bones was screaming at her to _run away. _

Mal’s magic was reacting around her, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong. What was setting her teeth on edge. Where it was coming from… who it might be coming for.

And then, suddenly, in a burst of power that vibrated through Mal’s whole body – Mal _knew _what was wrong. The others must have felt it to because Evie gasped and Uma immediately fell into that classic _I’m about to fight, _stance.

Something, some magical creature had broken from the treeline. An awful black shadow had exploded from the woods and was sprinting towards them.

It was all _wrong, _Mal’s magic hated it. She could _feel _the creature. She could feel dark shrouds of poisonous magic throbbing and burning in every bound of its paws. Mal could sense its darkness, its _power. _

Mal could feel the rage rolling off the creature. An incomprehensible hatred had bled into the air. It was racing toward the dais with all the fury of creation.

Evie locked eyes with Mal as they realised in the same moment, Ben. It was after _Ben. _

It had only been _seconds. _No one had noticed apart from them_. _No one would be able to sense It in time. Turn around and react before it was ploughing through them. Tearing them to shreds.

It reminded Mal of Maleficent. It had not a shred of restraint in those insane, shadowy claws. Mal had known when she faced the dragon that was her mother, that there would be no mercy. Every inch of Mal’s body had warned her, had screamed at her to run then. It was doing the same now. There was no hesitation when Maleficent had struck with those teeth and claws… this creature was no different.

Mal knew in her body and bones that nothing would stop it in time. Ben would be defenceless against its rippled, muscled body. Ben would barely have time to turn in surprise… before it was upon him. The heroes had no hope of noticing in time. Audrey was still standing before her father as he still watched the crowds as impassive as ever. The creature would have ravaged Ben by then. By the time he drew his sword, it would have torn Ben apart like a rag doll. Then it would turn on them, with their kings blood dripping from its jaws.

Mal couldn’t stop to think. All that she knew was that she had to save Ben. It was headed for him with bared moon white teeth, its mouth dripping with saliva. An awful whine broke from its throat as it panted with hot breath and desperation. It’s eyes were like two pinpricks of black fire.

Mal wouldn’t let him die.

There was only one thing she could do.

In that moment, it felt like the world had frozen once again. Just like it had at the coronation. All Mal could do was turn and lock eyes with Evie, a goodbye on the tip of her tongue, as she shoved herself forward.

Evie must have seen it, the sorry written on Mal’s face. But as Evie’s eyes widened with a horrified surprise, Mal’s fingers had already slipped through her grasp.

Everything was timeless around her. The crowd was still calm. Still motionless. She couldn’t hear a single scream, only the slow far away words of Ben’s speech.

Mal didn’t even have to ask, it was there. It had been waiting.

All those days, all those arguments it had come so close to the surface. All those times she’d felt it’s pull when she faced off with Uma in the corridors. All those times she’d felt it’s desire. All those times as her magic burned and her teeth grew sharp and deadly in her mouth.

The dragon in her bones had been begging to be let out from the moment Mal had crossed the barrier all those months ago. She’d pushed it down. Mal had never given in. She fought it back with a clenched jaw and tight fists. She’d buried the memory of her body changing under her so deep it was like she had forgotten it had ever happened.

But it had been waiting for this.

_Let me out. _Said the dragon in Mal’s bones.

Mal had grown used to it struggling against her, gnawing on her bones as it tried to rise from the depths of its prison inside her.

_Let me out. Let me out. Let me out. _

And at last, Mal did.

She felt the last chains on her magic fall away completely.

Mal threw herself into the air as her magic took over for her. She didn’t even have to think as her body exploded itself into something new. Her magic shot through her like lightening, she could feel the endless abyss of her power inside her finally _burn. _It was all instinct. She had fought it before, as that purple magic had wrapped itself around her bones and tore open her skin.

Mal didn’t fight it now. She let it wash over her. She felt her teeth warp in her mouth and this time, they did not stop at small pointed canines. They grew _huge. _Impossibly large fangs sprouted from her mouth as her very skull changed around her.

She felt her magic wrap around her bones and transform them into something new. Everything inside her shifted, growing larger and _different. _The skin between her fingers split as they grew, and huge razor sharps claws took the place of her fingernails.

It all happened in a second, the whole area around Mal was suddenly thick with magical purple smoke. One second a girl was running through the crowd, and the next a dragon was launching itself into the air.

Mal pushed herself off the ground with powerful new legs, she could feel the muscles in them coiling and strong. She unfurled her huge new wings in a heartbeat and felt them catch on the wind as she thrust herself at the dais. Mal didn’t have any room to think about what she’d just done, what she had _become. _The beast was just moments away from reaching Ben and tearing him in two.

Mal, the dragon, slammed into it as its jaw opened, slavering and hot as it lunged for Ben’s unprotected back. Mal dug her claws into its skin at once and felt them pierce its skin. They tumbled backwards together with the force of Mal’s landing, and she felt the dais splinter beneath their huge, heavy bodies.

Mal was dimly aware that everyone had started screaming.

They landed heavily off the edge of the dais, crunching into the hard dirt in a tangle of unfamiliar limbs. The beast – a werewolf by the looks of it, tore itself from her claws at once and immediately lunged for Mal’s throat. It’s powerful, gaping maw got purchase quickly on her neck and bit down _hard. _Mal flung it away from her with a powerful swipe of her claws, but felt its teeth rip along her skin as it went.

The creature was up at once. Its claws digging into the dirt before it ran at her again. It’s teeth were dripping red with blood, _her blood. _It’s lip was curled in distaste. It was the _wrong _blood. It was a mad frenzy of claws and teeth and a horrible whine ripped from its throat again. Every single part of its body was screaming for it to _get to Ben. _

It was insane with the desire, Mal could see the fractured look in its burning black eyes. It was consumed with an unholy fervour. The unhinged madness werewolves were cursed with. It would only be sated with a bite. It had been driven insane by it, the taste for human blood.

For some reason it was after Ben. It was _his _blood that was taunting it and it would not rest until it tasted it upon its teeth.

But Mal wouldn’t let that happen. She struck as quickly as lightening with a leap from her back legs to swipe at the creature. But it had anticipated it, its predator instincts far more in tune than hers, and dodged away. Even faster than her, on quick dark legs the creature darted to Mal’s side, making a desperate break for the exposed dais.

Mal slammed her body in front of the gap and bared her long animal teeth at it. She would _not _let it pass. But almost too late, Mal sensed it. _Another _angry ball of hateful magic. There was something else, a _second creature. _

While Mal had been fighting off the first creature, a second had broken from the line of the trees and was almost at the unprotected left flank of the dais.

An unearthly scream tore from Evie’s throat and rippled along Mal’s spine. Mal’s body acted before Mal could think. She turned as fast as she could, her back legs kicking powerfully off the ground as she coiled around Ben’s unprotected body.

All at once Mal felt razor sharp claws swipe across her shoulder, as deep as they could go. Shredding through the muscle in Mal’s shoulder and scraping along her bone, right where Ben had been standing a few seconds before. It would have ripped Ben in half, she was certain. A shuddering, awful scream tore itself from Mal’s throat. It was a strange new howl in this new body.

Mal snapped her head up at once to tear at the new attacker. Animal ferocity burning in her eyes. She got a mouthful of dark fur before her long teeth crunched into the werewolf’s front leg. She bit hard, every inch of her muscles concentrated down on her teeth. She felt them rip through the werewolf’s muscle and its hot black blood spill into her mouth. She ripped the creature off her body, and with every ounce of her strength, shattered the bones beneath her teeth with a crunch that echoed around Mal’s skull. She thought she tasted something strange, her teeth catching on something that _felt _like metal.

The werewolf scrambled up at once from where she had flung it, several meters away. It was seemingly undeterred by its mangled forearm. It limped forward anyway, with its hackles raised and a low growl in its throat. Dark black blood dribbled from the deep wounds left by Mal’s teeth marks and flecked across the dais.

Mal let out a growl of her own. A ferocious rumble in her chest that spilled from between her teeth in the hopes it would ward it away. She bared her fangs at it as its black blood dribbled down her chin and dripped from her teeth. It tasted dark and biting on her tongue. The curse poisoned all it touched, blood and all.

She could feel Ben’s fragile, human body tremble safely within her grasp. She didn’t have time to imagine what it must have been like, suddenly in the clutches of a huge monster. She hoped he recognised her. Surely he must have known that it was a _good _dragon keeping him safe.

The injured werewolf had its gaze locked with Mal’s and she followed its movements warily. Her own green eyes burning into its dark black ones. It was stand-off, but it would surely not last long. 

Mal’s shoulder was on fire with pain. Boiling red blood had already welled in the deep gauges that sliced through her skin. They filled almost as quickly with blood as they had been sliced apart. Mal could feel it, the hot rivers of her blood that were pouring down her arm and splashing onto the wooden floor.

It was so _hot, _a sensation Mal remembered well from every single stabbing she had survived. True warmth was hard to come by on the isle, but Mal feared more than anything the sudden fire she felt when her own blood washed over her body. That was the burning heat of death, as her lifeblood left her body. Mal had hoped she’d never relive that experience, especially not in Auradon.

She could feel the heat of it all along her skin, all that fire belonged inside of her. Not spilling across her body. It only took a few long moments of Mal and the werewolf’s stare down for her paw to get slippery with her blood. Mal dug her claws into the wood, ignoring the bolt of pain the movement sent through her. If she went down, _Ben _went down.

Besides, Mal had spent many fights in her life on the precipice of one death or another. The scars all over her body were testament to that. Today would be no different. Mal didn’t plan on going down today. And if she did… she’d take those creatures with her.

Mal’s heart dropped in her chest as the werewolf she had tackled off the dais joined them. Two against one didn’t seem very fair, even though Mal was significantly bigger. With one graceful leap it was back in the fight. It was uninjured, its fight with Mal had barely affected it. Mal only coiled tighter around Ben. Her warm body pressed as close as she could get without crushing him in her grip. She could feel him breathing fast and ragged against her side.

She would keep him safe.

Mal could really hear the chaos around her now. The screams as the ceremony devolved into absolute pandemonium. All of Auradon would be watching this. All of the isle too. It was broadcast live after all.

The two werewolves stared at her for a long, dark moment as Mal bared her teeth at them. The werewolf on her left was limping, holding its broken forearm close to its body. But still it paced. All these creatures wanted was Ben’s blood. No pain or injury save death would stop them. They could barely even feel their pain when compared with the parched, dry bloodthirst in their throats.

The injured werewolf attacked with no warning or hesitation. It dove for her neck faster than she thought possible with a broken wrist. Mal’s bright red blood on its claws splattered through the air as it prepared to ravage her airways to pieces. Mal saw a flash of silver circling its paw. But this time Mal was ready, it’s teeth didn’t get a single touch of her neck before she had smashed it out of the air with one heavy swipe of her paw.

She pinned it to the floor without a shred of mercy. She felt her huge claws piece its ribs as it wriggled beneath her weight. She snarled dangerously, spittle flecking from her jaws as she shifted her weight to crush it into place. She would _not _let it go.

That’s when the other werewolf sprinted past her flank and with a terrifying snarl, launched itself at her back leg. Mal couldn’t turn to attack it without releasing Ben or the creature trapped beneath her claws. Mal could only let out a horrifying scream of agony as the werewolf crunched its jaws around Mal’s ankle and raked its claws down her thigh. No matter what happened, Mal would not be uncurling from Ben. 

It’s teeth were like daggers, long and deadly sharp. It had no hesitation in its movements as it savaged her leg between its teeth. Mal could feel it shredding her flesh as it gnawed at her. Trying to get her to move her legs out of its grasp, dig Ben out from where he sheltered just behind Mal’s body.

And then, with a desperation only a cursed creatures knows… utterly consumed by its desire to get to Ben, the werewolf shattered Mal’s ankle between its jaws. Mal _screamed _in a way she had never screamed before as an unearthly wave of agony washed over her. It felt like all her nerves were on fire. She roared, an endless echo into the sky and felt a strange new muscle work in her throat.

Mal was dizzy with pain, utterly overcome by the hot blood she could feel pouring down her leg, coating her arm and still spilling from her neck. In her pain filled haze, the werewolf wriggled out from under her claws and danced back. These werewolves had the advantage in this fight, soon she wouldn’t be able to swipe at them to keep them away. It wouldn’t be long. They all knew it. Mal was losing more and more blood by the second. She could feel the world spin around her and no matter how hard she gripped her claws into the dais, it was getting harder to stay upright.

The werewolf with the broken wrist locked its burning, hateful eyes with hers once again. It was at the edge of the dais again, but Mal knew what was coming. It hardly wasted a moment before it was limping forward again, teeth bared. It was going to go for her neck again and this time Mal didn’t know if she could stop it.

Mal felt that strange new muscle in her throat work, and with every last bit of her desperation, she _roared _at the werewolf approaching her. Mal breathed out an inferno of fire toward it. She felt it funnel down her throat and explode from between her teeth. Her roar echoed across the gardens and reached the very sun itself. The fire was _boiling. _It set the dais before her alight and send the werewolf dodging out of its path.

With a scream of fury that sent a blast of magic so powerful it threw both of werewolves back to the edge of the dais, Evie flung her magic at the creatures attacking the girl she loved. Suddenly, at the brink of Mal’s ability to fight the creatures off, the world exploded in a storm.

Evie and the other isle kids would never _ever _leave Mal alone in a fight. They had thrown themselves through the crowd as quickly as possible, shoving every fleeing citizen out of their way with all abandon. Evie had thrown herself up the steps of the dais and unleashed every bit of magic she had.

The temperature dropped like they had just plunged into the arctic ocean and the wind howled around them with no forgiveness. The fire Mal had breathed extinguished itself quickly under its icy onslaught. Evie had flung out her arms and sent a wind of ice and snow at the monsters.

The werewolves stood no chance, the wind was like a fist, punching them back from the bleeding dragon. Huge shards of glistening ice smashed into them and pinned them back. It shattered across the deck like they were in the middle of a hurricane and sliced at their skin.

And then Uma was there, seconds behind. Her eyes glowing that ancient magical gold. She didn’t hesitate for a second, she thrust her arms out and the sea answered her call. Powerful, choppy waves of water smashed into the struggling werewolves. Stopping them at their every turn.

Evie sent shards of ice as sharp as daggers at them with cold, angry eyes. She would not let them advance even a step. They were still quick, they dodged and growled at the edge of the platform. But Evie and Uma were relentless. A shard of ice slashed across one of the creatures muzzles and it locked eyes with Evie with absolute hatred.

The others were there too. Mal blinked and Carlos and Jay were standing in front of her huge head, knives in hand. Harry and Gil were doing the same, guarding the rear. Jay threw a knife with deadly precision and it sunk into one of the werewolves shoulders. He fished a second knife out of his boot as Carlos surveyed them with alert, practised eyes.

Uma’s eyes burned that unholy gold. She looked like a little god. She stepped closer and closer, pushing the creatures back from Mal and Ben with a wall of deadly, spinning water. The look on Evie’s face was all isle. It was the same those days they had fought, Mal’s arm in pieces strapped to her side with Evie like a demon in front of her.

Just as the isle kids gained the clear upper hand, their magic too powerful to ignore or attack blindly, Mal heard something so high pitched it almost hurt. She flinched against it and so did the werewolves before them. It was barely there, just a short whistle on the wind that was so high it was only just in the range of Mal’s new hearing. The werewolves snapped their heads up and their ears flicked back at once towards the forest.

With an insane, dribbling snarl the werewolves took once last hateful look at the spot Ben would be if Mal wasn’t covering him completely, and just as quickly as they had arrived they bolted off the dais.

Evie looked like she was in half a mind to go after them. As it was she sent another rain of ice daggers after them with a look that would freeze hell. Mal felt them retreat, their dark magical aura’s getting fainter and fainter as they sprinted for the same treeline they had come from.

Mal bared her teeth after them, blood and saliva dripping from her mouth, unable to tear her eyes away from their retreating bodies. Unable to believe they were really giving up after how ferociously they had attacked her for shielding Ben.

Evie turned to face Mal as soon as the werewolves had bolted just over halfway across the gardens. She let go of the magic she had been swirling into a deadly storm and immediately ran to Mal’s side. 

“Mal,” Evie’s voice broke and her eyes immediately filled with unshed tears. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest, not at all afraid of the dragon that had taken Mal’s place. Her hands were soothing and cold against Mal’s burning hot skin as Evie took Mal’s muzzle into her hands. It calmed something in Mal’s boiling throat and overheating mind.

Evie pulled her huge head into her arms. Hugging her with all the desperation of someone who thought they might never see her again. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” Evie mumbled into her armful of Mal’s head. “I thought –“ tears escaped Evie’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks. “I thought I’d lost you. I didn’t think I’d get here in time.” Evie’s voice was hauntingly full of pain, “we almost _didn’t.”_

Mal huffed a blast of hot air out of her nostrils, and shook her enormous, horned head. _But you did _she tried to tell her. Mal pushed her soft snout into Evie’s hands, telling her the only way she could that she was ok. Evie pulled back, and wiped her eyes, peering into those huge, familiar green eyes with her watery brown eyes of her own. She took a great, shuddering breath. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” Evie stepped back, but kept her hand on Mal’s snout.

Uma stepped up to them, looking Mal up and down with an unreadable expression on her face. “They’re gone.” She said. “You can let Ben out. We’ll be here.”

“We’ll guard him.” Added Harry, his eyes still on the treeline. “Make sure they don’t come back.”

Mal flicked her huge green eyes to Evie, who nodded. “It’s safe.” She promised her.

Mal let out a rattling exhale before she jerkily unfurled her body to uncover Ben to the others. She couldn’t move her back leg at all without waves of pain spiralling over her. Her broken bones screamed as she limped aside. Her shoulder strained beneath her, protesting every twitch of her body. Her breathing was ragged, burning and strained. As soon as Ben could free himself, she flattened her body against the deck with exhaustion. Her long pink tongue lolled out of her mouth as she panted, it was dripping with the werewolves black blood.

Ben stumbled out of Mal’s grasp with wide, horrified eyes. He was covered in blood. It drenched his blue and gold uniform so much it looked like it was almost a different colour. Mal’s blood was splattered all over his face and dripping from his hair. He must have accidently smeared it with his hands during the fight. It looked awful. It looked like it was his.

Ben couldn’t speak. His words were dead in his throat. He stared up at the huge dragon, completely horrified by the blood pouring like a river from her shoulder, streaming from her leg and dripping down her neck. The deck beneath them was completely covered in it. All of it, bright red and gleaming… belonged to Mal.

All for him.

All that pain for him.

Even more than that… she’d risked everything by showing that form here. Another dragon like Maleficent… televised to the whole kingdom.

She’d risked her whole future. Her body. Her blood. So that he may stand, utterly unhurt after monsters attacked the anniversary.

Ben stumbled into Uma’s grasp. She flung an arm under his shoulders at once. Helping him stand. He wasn’t hurt. He was just shocked out of his mind. Uma felt her stomach twist with a sick lurch as she felt Mal’s blood drenching his clothes. It was so warm. So much.

Evie’s attention was all on Mal. “You can come back.” She said softly, a conversation just between the two of them. “You did it. You saved Ben.” Evie’s voice was all tenderness and patience. “You can come back to me now. I won’t let you fall. I’m right _here, _I promise.”

Mal let out an exhausted huff of air. Her eyes barely open. Mal gingerly sat back on her haunches, letting out a hiss as her weight shifted on her badly mauled leg. Evie’s face was tight with worry.

Mal was afraid. She cast her eyes at the ever growing pool of her own blood beneath her. The dais around them was flecked with blood. Hers, red, bright and gleaming. And theirs, dark black like spilled ink. Mal watched a pool of it mix with hers with a delirious fascination. It sparkled and hissed when it met. Two pools of powerful, magical blood that should not touch. 

Mal looked away. She could feel her body in agonising tatters. She was afraid of what might happen when she turned back. What might be left of her. She let a terrified whine out between her teeth. For Evie’s ears alone.

“I’m here,” Said Evie as she saw the fear in Mal’s eyes. Her hand was right there, cool and calm on Mal’s face. “I won’t let you fall.”

Mal bowed her head and exhaled. Her magic was no longer that full, vibrant hum under her skin she was used to. Every last bit of strength she had, went to that last plume of fire. Mal’s last defence against the death of the King. It was how she had felt after that coronation, like she had used every last drop of her magic on a very expensive wish.

With a soft gush of that same purple magic, Mal returned to her own body. It felt like a sigh. Like falling asleep or chasing a daydream into the dark. Mal could barely feel it this time. As her bones changed around her. Pain was pain, no matter what body she was in.

Mal thudded back into her mortal boots and bones and fell at once into Evie’s grasp.

Evie held her tight. _“I love you” _Whispered Evie, just for her. “I won’t let you go. I promise_”_

Mal clung weakly to Evie, her arms wrapped around Evie’s shoulders. “I love you too.” Mal said back, almost hoarse, into Evie’s embrace. Mal felt her whole body relax as she breathed in Evie’s perfumed scent and felt her long blue hair brush against her fingers. Her body still felt like it had been pushed from a window several times, but Evie was right there. She was safe.

Mal looked terrible. Her white cotton shirt was drenched in blood. Her black jacket was shredded at her shoulder. Uma caught a glimpse of it, of just how _deep _those claws had gone in Mal’s back. The bleeding hadn’t slowed. Uma could see Mal’s sliced skin and past that, the horrible red flesh of an open wound.

Her ankle wasn’t better by any standards. The leather pants on her left leg was so torn up it was like it had never gone past her knee the first place. What Ben saw made him want to throw up. Mal’s leg was in total ruin. The werewolf hadn’t a shred of restraint when it had savaged at her with its claws and teeth. Blood ran down Mal’s calf. It had probably already filled her boot. Mal could barely stand on her own, let alone put weight on that mangled ankle. They had all heard it. Ben most of all. What it had sounded like as it had snapped under that monsters jaws.

All to get to him.

All that blood should have been _his. _

The isle kids didn’t hesitate for a moment. The second the fight had ended Jay, Carlos and Harry had started to rip their shirts to shreds with their daggers. Gil had slipped his off too, cut it in half and folded it into thick pads. They had clearly done this or something like it before.

Uma cut Mal’s jacket off her body, exposing the soaking red shirt beneath as Evie held her up, murmuring sweet things no one else could hear into her ear as Mal sunk further into the dark. Uma caught parts of it. “Hang on Mal,” Evie whispered, “I love you, you’ve got to stay with me.” Mal just nodded in response.

“I won’t.” She rasped. “I’m never –“ Evie could feel Mal’s blood dripping onto her hands. “Never leaving you.”

Evie didn’t let her go of Mal for even a second as they quickly pressed Gil’s shirt to her shoulder and Uma bound it as tight as she could. Gil didn’t wait for orders, he pressed the second half of his shirt against Mal’s ruined ankle. Harry knelt beside him and with a frightening amount of pressure, tied it on with strip after strip. Carlos was with Uma, binding the mess of Mal’s shoulder as quickly as he could. With unflinching, deft fingers. Jay kept cutting and passing them more strips. Evie held her hand out for one behind Mal’s back, she pressed it to Mal’s bleeding neck. Carlos bound her neck without choking her the second he finished with Mal’s shoulder.

They were frighteningly efficient. Even though they had never worked together on the isle… they all knew what to do when someone got hurt. They were calm and practised in a way that only made Ben feel more like throwing up. They had only ever survived on their own merits. Of course they wouldn’t wait for a doctor to patch Mal up. They’d been patching each other up their wholes lives.

Mal’s fingers curled into Evie’s jacket as tight as they could. “Don’t let them send me back.” She managed to say with ever more laboured breaths. “Please,” Mal’s voice cracked, a echoing dread in her words. “I can’t.” She shuddered, shaking her head nearly hysterically into Evie’s shoulder. “I can’t go back.”

Ben felt his heart stop dead in his chest. Mal could barely breathe, barely stand, barely wrap her arms around Evie at all… and she was more afraid of being sent back to the isle than bleeding to death here and now.

Evie didn’t let Mal go, she stroked her hair with gentle calming stokes, but her words were all sharp steel. “I won’t let them,” She said with cold, dangerous eyes. “I won’t let them. I promise you,” Evie whispered into Mal’s ear, “Whatever it takes, remember? We’re _not _going back. Not now, not ever.”

“I can’t.” Mal repeated. Her voice almost gone. “I can’t”

The panic in Mal’s voice and the isle hardened look on Evie’s face stabbed Ben hard in his gut. He lurched forward out of his shocked stance, unable to bear just standing there. He was King, his word had to stand for _something. _“I won’t Mal. I won’t let them.” Ben answered, the first words out of his throat since his speech all those lifetimes ago. “I promise I won’t let them.”

Fairy Godmothers voice exploded across the pitch. It seemed to Mal like she was slipping into a strange dream. All she could really feel was Evie’s arms around hers, her cheek smashed into that soft velvet Evie had made her jacket out of.

Between the hands all over her, keeping pressure and tying makeshift bandages across her bloody body, one of the last things Mal heard was the overwhelmed screams of Fairy Godmother.

“Out of my way, _out of my way.” _She snarled across the gardens. “You – yes, you – run, go get the doctor at Auradon Prep _right now.”_

There was a hesitant answer, “But I-”

Fairy Godmother didn’t waste time listening, “Is this not an _emergency?! _Go! Now! Tell him I order it!” There was the frightened squeal and the sounds of someone nodding and running away.

Fairy Godmother continued on her warpath. “Lonnie, you’re here, good, run to the nurse station get me the field kit. Bring It to the dorm as fast as you can. And _you,” _She rounded on Audrey, who had somehow clawed out of her father’s grip and run straight back to the dais. He’d clearly dragged her away when the fighting started, but Audrey would never abandon her friends.

“Gather all the heroes,” Said Fairy Godmother. “Send a message, there’s to be a council meeting in _one hour, _and _everyone _has to attend. I don’t care how you do it, they _will _be in the chamber waiting for me no matter how long it takes.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Audrey answered. “Ben too?”

“Yes. Yes. Ben’s part of this. Get him. Make sure he’s ok. But he _must _be there. Find him some different clothes. I’ll look after Mal, make sure he knows that.”

Audrey sprinted towards them, Mal could hear her footsteps grow louder as she climbed the steps of the dais.

She didn’t drag Ben away, but approached him carefully, her eyes wet with unshed tears before pulling him into a hug. She didn’t hesitate, not stopping at all once she noticed the blood covering his body. “You really scared me.” She turned her head to look at Mal, who was definitely on the verge of passing out. “Both of you did.”

Ben hugged her back, his brain still stuck in a loop of the moments before the attack. All he could do was pull Audrey closer. “Me too.” Was all he could say.

Mal could hear Fairy Godmothers voice closer now, still directing everyone she ploughed past with a job. “ Ah Jane, there you are” she said, significantly calmer now she’d sent for the first aid kit and a doctor. “ – Go to my office. Here you’ll need this key.” Fairy Godmothers voice got quieter and quieter. “Don’t let anyone see you…” She faded out of Mal’s hearing and back in again as her words went to a whisper. “Got it? Good. Run along. Meet us in the dorm, as quick as you can.”

And then with loud steps, Fairy Godmother joined them on the dais. Mal could hear her sharp intake of breath as she truly saw it. All the blood. As she saw it drenching Ben and splattered all over his face. And finally… with a tearful gasp, as she laid eyes on Mal.

Mal felt Fairy Godmothers’ hands reach up after she rushed to her side, and gently brushed a bloody strand of Mal’s hair behind her ear. Mal just barely cracked an eye open and faintly tried to smile.

And in that moment, as Mal attempted a weak smile, blood dripping from her mouth, all Fairy Godmother could think was… just maybe there was still a Good Fairy left after all.

The last thing Mal knew was Evie’s voice drifting in her ear. “You’re safe Mal, we’ve got you. You’ll be ok. You can shut your eyes.” And then, last of all, “We’ll all be here when you wake up._” _

Then Mal let the dark consume her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Gosh what a crazy time, its scary that’s for sure. I'm in lockdown where I am and I've been writing this to sort of add any structure to my life. I hope every single one of you are doing ok, its a tough time and its bloody hard to get through! 
> 
> In other news, Evie and Mal finally kissed! I only waited 50,000+ words. 
> 
> Everything before the coronation werewolf attack in my word doc, was under the title, "before shit hits the fan" 
> 
> welcome friends to "AFTER SHIT HITS FAN" 
> 
> Thank you all for the lovely comments, I want to tell the commenter who wrote "I've got work at 7, its 4am" you made me smile so much. I spend much of my time ruining my own plans because I stay awake stupid hours to read fanfic, I'm so glad this is something I can pass on to my very own readers. 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos, comments, subscriptions and bookmarks! Its been so much fun writing this and I'm so glad you guys are liking it! 
> 
> Please subscribe for updates!!
> 
> What did you guys think of this chapter? Please comment below!


	4. Chapter 4

Evie was sticky with blood for hours after the failed Anniversary celebrations. Her beautiful blue dress was drenched with it. Her hands were covered with it. Her hair was dark with it.

Evie had held Mal as she bled out in her arms. She had felt every rasp of Mal’s breaths, every stuttering exhale against her chest. Every weak dig of Mal’s fingers as she held on to Evie as tight as she could. Evie’s hands had slipped against Mal’s back, wet and hot with blood as she kept her failing body upright.

Evie had felt it drip hot from Mal’s shoulder and soak into her dress. She had felt it leak down her back and run down her arms. Evie’s skin hot and sticky with blood that didn’t belong to her.

All of it belonged safe and sound in her tiny, trembling girlfriend.

It made Evie shake with a cold, horrible anger. The kind of splitting hate she hadn’t felt since she last stared up into her mother’s ancient, terrible eyes.

They weren’t even safe in _Auradon. _

Mal had stepped before death again. To save Ben and his people. Her body was always the first line of defence before monsters.

Always _Mal. _It made Evie bare her teeth, with a cold, primal anger.

Mal was always the first to die.

Always the first to step before a whip and save her friends. Always the first to bleed.

Mal was too used to bartering for life with a pound of her flesh. It was a cost she had paid before and would always be willing to pay again.

Evie hated that it worked. That Mal had learned that it worked. That when _Mal _scarified bits of her blood, body and soul, her friends got to walk away alive. 

_Not anymore. _Evie’s very soul rang out with a desperate, angry promise. She couldn’t watch it again, not one more time that Mal stepped before her, ready to die.

_Not ever again. _

Come death or the rising sea, Evie would be there, right by Mal’s side. Ready to shove her out of the line of fire, ready to send her magic out and burn the world before it could touch Mal. The next monster that dared take a step towards them had another thing coming.

If _Mal _thought she was going to face the next calamity alone _she _had another thing coming.

There was a horrible look on Evie’s face after Mal blacked out. A tightness to the knuckles that held up her girlfriend. As Fairy Godmother barked orders, as Uma took a grip on Mal’s waist to take some of her weight off Evie, as Ben stared at them with wide, disbelieving eyes.

The other isle kids recognised it, that look.

It was like everything warm had been drained from Evie’s eyes. No longer shining and kind, but cold and forbidding. Like the ice she had summoned from the very air.

They recognised the rage too. Not hidden under her skin, but flashing from her eyes and dripping from the sharp teethed grimace on her face. It was not disquiet at all. Not in a moment of clenched knuckles and buried emotions. This was a loud lightning storm written in every inch of her body language and her cold, untrusting eyes.

It was the face of _Evie of the Isle_. The girl who had always stepped up when Mal went down, come hell or high water to lead her people through the dark and deadly night. It was not the face of the kind, trusting kid Ben and the other Auradon kids had been getting to know in the months since the coronation.

Uma stood side by side with one of her greatest enemies once again. A girl she hadn’t seen since that day she had arrived and all of them had been bristling with barely restrained hatred. This was the Evie Uma had known all her life. The Evie she had fought tooth and nail. The Evie who had a snarl on her face and death in her hands, ready to throw a knife and make her enemies bleed.

And Uma settled herself back into that person too. The one who had been across from Evie with bloody knuckles and a deadly promise in her eyes. The sea witch’s daughter, Captain of the pirates stood side by side with the daughter of the queen, Evie of the Isle, second in command. Allies on enemy soil.

It was like that fight had followed them to Auradon. Like they had brought death, destiny and doom with them upon their shoulders.

The other kids felt it. The switch. The change on the wind the attack had brought. It changed something in all of them. It was like looking at soldiers straightening to attention. Every one of the isle kids had slipped back into their old skin as easily as breathing.

But this time, Evie’s utter animosity wasn’t directed at Uma or her pirates. It wasn’t even directed at the woods, where those mysterious werewolves had fled.

Evie could see them scattered before the trampled grass before the dais, looking up at the scene before them with distrust written all over their faces. Their fingers ghosting over the hilts of the swords. Their bodies tense, their stances wired for a fight. But they weren’t fanning out, looking at the woods for the monsters and their master.

The heroes of Auradon stared up at the children of the isle and all Evie saw was fear and hate in every frown, every piercing gaze, every ounce of hesitation in their bodies that stopped them climbing on the dais, to be side by side with their king.

They were angry at _them. _Afraid of _them. _Full of hatred because of who _they _were and the powers their parents had clearly passed on.

The tension in the air was palpable. It felt like the building hum in the air before a strike of lightening. The rest of the gardens was still in utter pandemonium, but between Evie, the isle kids, Prince Phillip and the Heroes, it was as still and silent as the grave.

If Mal had been awake, she would have taken Evie’s hand. Grounded her in the moment. But Mal was bleeding out in Evie’s arms and Evie was ready to explode her fury at the lot of them. Where were the security checks for their king? Where were the guards at the perimeter? Why had no one done their jobs?

Why had it been down to them and Mal at all?

Evie could read their faces and they could read hers. Tension stretched between them as taut as a bowstring.

With each shuddering breath that Evie took on that dais, as each second brought with it no relief, she felt an ancient dread reawaken in her bones from where it had slumbered for so many months. It had been so freeing, living without that weight. But as she held Mal up, covered in blood, her own blood boiling with anger, she felt that heavy dread settle itself back upon her shoulders. Like she had shrugged on her isle jacket once again.

And on every bloody, scratched up plank of wood below them on the deck, Evie felt a horrible promise ringing out. Today would come back to haunt them. By every drop of blood below them, red and black alike… she felt a whisper on the very wind. _Today will come back to haunt you. _

It was like the banging of the drums. A change on the wind. A coin tossed high into the air, waiting to see how it landed.

It wouldn’t be the same after this, that was sure. After this little… declaration of theirs.

No matter how honest or noble their actions were. No matter that they had saved their _Kings _life… it would come back to haunt them.

Mal hadn’t been wrong at all.

They could be sent back to the isle for this.

Mal had turned into a _dragon _before the world. Before her greatest and most ancient enemy. She had shown them what she could become, become _easily. _It had taken her seconds to change her body, become a weapon beyond fathoming. It had been televised to the whole kingdom… the isle too. There would be no escaping it now.

Evie had shown them what she had been hiding too. The great shards of magic she had pulled from the air to create a hurricane of ice and pain. She had driven werewolves away with the power in her blood, because someone she loved was in danger.

Evie had felt the peace they had lived in here shatter in the air before them. It had been from the moment Mal transformed… shortly followed by Evie’s magical explosion of power and might. Uma hadn’t helped, bringing all the power of the sea to the fight. Between them, the three of them alone, they had brought those monsters to a retreat.

Uma had proved today that her bloodline still held merit. That the sea answered her call as though she had never been denied it. She had summoned its power here, huge waves and winds to fight monsters. She was descended from the Royalty of the sea, and it seemed that the ocean did not forget Uma’s crown as easily as Auradon. Her magic didn’t care that her title had stripped it away. The ocean still belonged to her. Just like the dragon in Mal’s bones, and the enchantments on Evie’s tongue.

In the blink of an eye, the Heroes of Auradon had seen just how powerful King Ben’s new allies truly were.

Audrey must have sensed it, the animosity rising another notch. The fury plan as day on her father’s face directed at the bleeding broken body of a teenage girl. As he stared at his most ancient enemy reborn, and before him again.

_Maleficent’s child. _She could see it, seething in his eyes as he looked at them all. As he looked at Mal with not a shred of sympathy. She who would _always _be his enemy.

Audrey must have seen the look on Evie’s face too, and the twitching fingers of the isle kids, ready to do as they were ordered. Ready to fight. Ready to defend one of their own. Because Audrey broke the silence, shaking Ben out of his paralysed stance.

It seemed no matter how long Evie lived, no matter how she paid for her parent’s crimes, they would always have their parent’s enemies.

“Come on Ben, we have to go. You heard Fairy Godmother. We have to arrange a council meeting, and we have to go _now_.” Her tone left no room for argument and Ben only nodded a few times before letting her drag him back a few steps.

“Wait-” He stopped, some focus coming back into his eyes, “My quarters. Take Mal to my quarters, I won’t hear of anywhere else. Take her to the palace at once. Make sure it is the royal physician who sees her. Tell them I will be holding them responsible for her safe treatment, and if I hear a word otherwise…” Ben trailed off, the threat clear. He locked eyes with Fairy Godmother. “Understand?”

Fairy Godmother nodded, “Yes my King, we will take her to your palace wing at once.”

Audrey lead Ben off the platform, disrupting the stare down as she pushed Ben ahead of her and forced her father into step beside her. Prince Phillip shot one last, sallow look at the lot of them before he turned away. His knuckles white on the hilt of his sword.

The fear in Evie didn’t lesson though. Some battles could be fought worse with legislation, in council meetings, with monopolies on power. Prince Phillip was walking away from a fight he couldn’t win, to one where he wielded more power than all of them, than all the magic in their bones could prevent.

Evie quelled her doubt, her fear of what today might lead to, crushing it so far down she could barely feel it. Bringing her focus right back to Mal and the others.

Evie didn’t let go of Mal’s hand once as the Palace Doctor and his assistants stitched up Mal’s shoulder, calf, neck and set her ankle in a rigid cast of plaster. The ice cold look on her face didn’t dissipate either.

Mal looked so tiny. Her hair splayed around her like a soft purple halo. She was totally out of it, not a wriggle or flinch of pain in her sleep.

They’d injected her with something the moment they’d arrived. A brand-new needle ripped from fresh packaging, plunged into a labelled bottle of clear liquid and shot into her bicep.

She’d been hooked up to machines at once, the likes of which Evie could never have imagined existed back on the isle. Screens blinked and beeped at them in a language only the doctors could understand.

While the assistants cut open Mal’s shirt, discarding her bloody clothes to the floor, the doctor prepared something on a shining silver tray, his body already wrapped up in fresh, sterile scrubs.

They barely looked human, so wrapped up, their faces covered, their hands gloved in thin plastic. Evie must have looked like some bedraggled, bloody bride to them. Refusing to leave Mal’s side, even at their insistence.

The Doctor was stony faced, all business. “Leave us.”

Fairy Godmother stopped them, shaking her head firmly. “Continue please, Evie will be staying right here and so will I.”

Evie didn’t have any words to thank her, but Fairy Godmother looked like she understood, standing next to Evie, a solid, warm wall at her back.

The other isle kids were only removed as far back as the door, where they watched with hawk like concentration. Fairy Godmother didn’t miss the way they were standing, covering each other’s backs. Like any minute this situation could turn on them and they’d have no choice but to fight their way out.

Fairy Godmother couldn’t in all honesty blame them. She could feel it too, the tension in the air. All because the little kid in front of her had shown her powers to save their king. She was under no illusion that it was because of the appearance of the werewolves. The nervous look of the Palace Doctor proved it even more. They were scared of _Mal. _

It was crazy watching them work, seeing first hand just how different Evie would have handled the situation. They had so many tools, so many learnered pairs of hands, so much experience.

There was no need for fire here. No knives thrust into open flame to staunch the bleeding. No stitches made from found thread, boiled in water over a fire with the mere hope it would sterilize it. Instead of thin shards of metal, they had fine, purpose made needles. Thin curved things that hooked skin and closed it with more precision than Evie had ever seen.

The rough shirt bandages the isle kids had wrapped around Mal’s gaping wounds were already soaked and red with blood. They peeled it all off with fast deft fingers. They doused Mal’s shoulder in disinfectant first, some strange brown liquid that stained her skin, sank into the open wounds and dribbled out down her back. The assistants did the same at her ruined leg.

Evie could only watch, staring endlessly at Mal’s face, strapped into an oxygen mask. She watched each inhale of Mal’s breath, the plastic fogging up with each exhale. She focused on it, trying to imagine Mal waking. Mal’s eyes blinking open. That familiar, roughish grin.

Evie tightened her grip on Mal’s limp fingers. _Stay with me. _She begged. _Stay with me. _

She looked so tiny, lying there, drowned by the shiny steel operating theatre. Above Evie’s hand holding hers, wires bundled up at her elbow and pierced her skin, hooking her up to the monitors. She was barely dressed, all those bloody clothes that Evie had worked so hard on were bundled on the floor. Shredded under claws and surgical scissors.

Mal just looked so young, small and venerable. Her pale, scarred body exposed under the harsh lights of the theatre. It was covered in blood, it had dried in thin streams down her chest, pooling at her collarbones and smearing across her stomach. Still, Evie could still see Mal’s scars. Raised and hollow. Slashed across her ribs, piercing through her arms. Deep gauges of old fights left forever in Mal’s skin. Even the fingers Evie held gently in her own, were marred from years of fighting. Years of breaking.

Evie couldn’t bear to see them all. There was just so _much. _They had already lived through too much and now this? There were no words for how unfair it felt, how much Evie hated that it always came down to this. One seventeen-year-old kid… between them and dying horribly. Between the world burning and breaking.

Evie focused on Mal’s face, staring at her soft lips and face so gentle in sleep, as the doctors worked quickly. Evie was glad Mal couldn’t feel it, that each stitch deep into her skin and muscles didn’t bring a whimper on her tongue or a grimace on her face.

Evie hated how familiar this was, this feeling. Not just over Mal, but Carlos and Jay too. And god knows they’d all spent many sleepless nights worrying, wondering if Evie would wake up from the latest bout of fever or blood loss too.

It felt like a knife was twisted up under Evie’s ribs, wracking her with anxiety. She felt like if she just stayed right here, watching every rise and fall of Mal’s chest… everything would be ok. She couldn’t turn away, couldn’t look anywhere but at Mal, or the gods might just decide to take her back and Evie couldn’t let that happen. Not under her watch.

The monitors beeped in alarm, in that strange foreign language everyone in the room seemed to understand but Evie. It was like the siren Evie had felt under her skin in the minutes before the attack, because all at once the flurry and rush of doctors around Mal froze in alarm, before snapping into new action.

“Blood, _now,”_ Said the doctor, “She’s lost too much, she’s crashing.” He gestured wildly at the others, “grab it now – you, prep the IV for entry.”

He grabbed a new needle from nowhere and in a flash had shoved it into a new vial of liquid. He barely looked as he shot it into Mal’s thigh, the needle going as deep as it could get.

Mal looked half dead. Unresponsive. Not a flinch. Not a blink.

Evie felt sick. Like she was back at the isle all over again, watching Mal bleed out. She could barely hear anything around them; she could only feel Mal’s limp fingers in her own and see the bright red blood dripping across every inch of the room. All over the isle too. The stony ground had lapped it up as it splashed across floorboards, as it spilt from her face from a sharp ring on Maleficent’s finger. As a knife went in Mal’s stomach and only came out after its whole blade had disappeared in her flesh.

“Take mine,” Evie managed to choke out of her throat. She thrust her arm up at them, tears already cutting down her cheeks. “Take mine, now, _please_.”

The Doctors didn’t hesitate, they grabbed a needle and had their grip quickly on Evie’s forearm before Fairy Godmother stopped them sharply.

“_Wait.” _She said at once, a thread of panic in her voice. “Not that,” She pushed the assistant’s hand away from Evie’s bare arm as Evie frowned up at her through her tear stained face. “Evie’s won’t work,” she rolled up her sleeves. “Take mine. _Now.”_

The steel look in her eyes and the thunderstorms promised in her words left no room for argument. With a tiny flinch and a grimace, the needle was pushed into Fairy Godmother’s veins instead. The assistant had practised hands and a keen eye, Evie had barely blinked before they’d found a vein. Bright red blood filled the tube at once, winding its way to fill the glossy, clear bag in the assistant’s hands.

“Why?” Said Evie in a broken, choked voice. Her eyebrows crumpled into a frown.

Fairy Godmother bit her lip as she stared across at Mal’s desecrated, pale body. “You saw it today,” Said Fairy Godmother in a low voice. “She’s got too much Fae in her. All that… all that…” She struggled with the words, but Evie knew what she meant.

_Power. _

All that power.

Fairy Godmother let out a world-weary exhale. “What she really needs is Fae blood. I’m afraid… Mal’s not quite… not quite human enough for your blood to work.” She looked down at her exposed forearm, “This is as close as we can get to Fae. Fae and Fairies are like cousins after all. We share an ancient, similar magic.” She moved her gaze back to Evie, an apology written all over her face.

Evie just nodded up at her, perhaps surprising Fairy Godmother with the steel in her gaze. Somehow it didn’t surprise her, that more than any human blood, Mal’s body would accept the blood of the last Good Fairy.

She knew. She had already known. Deep as deep could go… that Mal wasn’t quite like the rest of them. That had become clear the moment they had first crossed the barrier. The way Evie had seen her power, that insane burning green aura around Mal unlike anyone else. Unlike even her own.

She had felt it as they practised little charms on the moonlit pitch, that when Mal let fire explode into the air in a perfect ring around them, that her magic was _deeper. _Older. Far less mortal than the all too human enchantments Evie could conjure up with words heavy on her tongue.

She had seen it today, most of all. As Mal ran at the dais and in a moment had become something else altogether. A huge, magical dragon with a throat full of fire and Mal’s familiar, green eyes.

Evie ran her fingers gently over Mal’s hand, “Little halfling.” She said quietly, in confirmation.

_“Fae-rah.”_ Whispered Fairy Godmother, her head in a nod, her eyes far away.

Evie wondered how many Fae Fairy Godmother had met before. She had lived centauries after all.

As Fairy Godmother held a bandage to the vein upon her forearm, they hooked Mal up to the new IV. Human blood would have hung their if it were any of the rest of them on the table instead. But it was Mal under the harsh operating lights, and the blood she needed to wake was ancient, magic and powerful. Otherworldly and inhuman. Just like the Fae… just like Mal.

Evie held her breath as they inserted the needle into Mal’s forearm, clenching Mal’s fingers between her own tightly. Waiting for Mal’s body to reject it, to fit and seize as an impossibly powerful source of magic was injected into her veins. She watched as the blood flowed down the tube slowly, unable to look away, as it met Mal’s arm and finally entered her body.

Silence.

Mal didn’t even twitch as the whole operating theatre held its breath. Fairy Godmother watched Mal’s face with keen, hawklike eyes. Then, after a few terse minutes, the monitor beeped, and the Doctors let out a collective breath and got back to work stitching Mal back together.

Her body had accepted it. Her vitals, whatever they were, were stabilizing according to the multitude of calmer beeps issuing from the machines. Evie let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a fraction into her seat as Mal’s pale skin slowly regained a fraction of colour.

That would be a conversation for later. When Mal woke up and Evie had to tell her… her blood wasn’t human enough for Evie to save her. More burdens upon Mal’s shoulders. More reasons for the heroes to hate and fear.

Later. She would think about that later.

Finally, after Mal’s whole shoulder and calf was swallowed up by row after row of twisting blue stitches, they moved onto her ankle. It was awful to look at, Evie could see it clearly, between the ringed bites left by the werewolf’s jaw, the skin that remained was a deep, broken purple. It had already started to swell, rise up around the shattered bone in agonising protest.

They X-rayed it while Mal lay utterly unconscious on the table. A great machine came down on a mechanical arm and clicked as its shutters snapped pictures.

Evie didn’t move, even as the Doctors retreated behind a wall with small window. They draped a lead apron on top of her bloody dress. To protect her from something she wouldn’t be able to see, hear, feel or smell. She didn’t argue, but she didn’t stop holding Mal’s hand.

With all Mal’s open wounds stitched up, the doctors deliberated for a long few minutes over the X- ray sheet that showed Mal’s bones while Evie just stared at it with a stunned incomprehension. They had taken a picture through Mal’s _skin _and _muscle. _Illuminated on a light box, shining past the black, Mal’s actual bones showed up as clear as day.

It was a clean break apparently, whatever that meant. They wouldn’t be going in with steel rods and screws to straighten it back up and piece it together. All they needed to do was secure it, fast and hard in an unmoving cast of plaster.

_All this technology. _All this knowledge. The Doctor’s didn’t even seem particularly phased by the injuries, the shifting, insecure looks on their faces was more about who they were working _on _Evie was sure of it. The ice cold look on her face and the fact that she wouldn’t move for anything probably didn’t help either. They’d just seen her chase away monsters after all, she could _make _them fix Mal if it came down to it and they knew it.

She wouldn’t hesitate, not even for a second.

They bandaged Mal’s calf in thick layers of gauze before they stared to wrap it in the dripping strips of plaster covered bandages. Roll after roll of it, round and round Mal’s leg. Binding her foot, up her ankle to just below her knee. Her tiny, delicate toes peeked out. Evie felt like her whole soul was being held hostage, watching. Not being able to do a single thing to help but glare, but make sure they were more afraid of her than they were of disobeying their King.

It was only when Mal was sound asleep swallowed up by Ben’s huge palace bed that Uma took Evie by the hand and looked her deep in the eyes.

“Come on Evie,” Uma said softly, all understanding. “You’re covered in blood. I’ve brought you some clothes from the dorm. Some for Mal too, when she wakes up.” She held up the bundle of clothes in her arms before jerking her head to the door, where Carlos and Jay stood, still in their coronation finery.

“Carlos and Jay can take over watch for a while, they have more than enough knives on them and stubborn force of will between them to keep her safe while you have a shower. Besides, Harry and Gil are outside watching the door and Jane seems to have found her way up to the roof to keep watch. So, you know, I’m sure she’ll alert us if an invading army finds its way to the Palace in the next half an hour.”

Without Evie’s permission, that last bit actually managed to make her crack the tiniest of smiles.

Uma grinned at that as she continued, “And I, will be right outside the bathroom. Ready to jump in at a moment’s notice if Mal happens to open her eyes.” Uma raised her eyebrows at Evie in question. “Sound good?”

Evie bit her lip, switching to look back at Mal’s pale face. Uma tugged her fingers gently, “She’ll be ok. And you will be right there, just a door away.”

Carlos came up behind Evie, draping his arms gently around her neck in a hug, not at all concerned by the blood drenching Evie’s body. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “I’ll take over hand holding duty, don’t you worry. Mal will be well cared for while you’re gone. She _might _even get a bit forehead kiss action, if she’s good.”

Evie snorted, her friends unfairly knew how to make her laugh, even in the worst situations. Trying to get her to relax just a fraction. She sniffed and wiped her hair behind her ears with her fingers. “Fine,” she said. “Fifteen minutes.” She turned her neck to look up at Carlos, “hand holding duty.” She nodded at him. She looked across at Jay, who’d already pulled up a chair to sit beside Mal’s head. “Guard duty.”

They both nodded at her with upmost seriousness.

“Fifteen minutes.” Evie said again. Uma rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes, we know, you’re about to have the worlds quickest shower. Come on then, let’s get going before you decide to give me ‘blanket straightening duty’ or something.”

Evie glared at her, with no animosity behind it whatsoever. She huffed, “It was implied.”

“Come on Princess.” Uma’s fingers wrapped up with Evie’s as Evie let her other fingers go from Mal’s embrace. Carlos took up the slack at once, smiling up at Evie with that endlessly understanding look on his face.

He nodded at her as both his hands wrapped tenderly around Mal’s. “I’ve got this.” He pressed a tiny kiss to Mal’s knuckles. “She’s in good hands.” Carlos jerked his head to Uma, “and so are you. Go on. See you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Evie replied, finally letting Uma tug her away.

Uma opened the door to King Ben’s en-suite bathroom with her other hand. “I’ve already checked, nothing is nailed down. Feel free to take what you need.”

Uma stepped in before Evie, dragging a towel from a stack high above the sink on the very tip of her toes. “Here’s your towel,” she said as she placed it within arm’s reach of the shower. “I found all these little bottles around the place,” Uma said as she scooped a collection of small jars and assorted bottles from the counter. “I’m sure one of them is shampoo.” She kicked open the door of the huge, intimidating shower with her foot and set them all down neatly on the stone outcrop under the showerhead.

Uma flicked the dial of the shower, “This way is hot, that way is utterly fucking freezing, gave me a real shock earlier. I would avoid that way. And this,” Uma turned the shower on with a twist of the handle. “Is on.” Uma walked around the spray coming from the large showerhead like rainfall and made her way back to Evie’s side. “Just dump your clothes on the floor, I’ll sort them out later. Your new stuff is on the sink.” Uma paused for a second, rummaging around in her pockets. “I don’t know if you want it, but I brought some of my eyeliner with me and I randomly scooped up some of your makeup when I got your clothes.”

Uma emptied out her pockets next to the neat clothing pile. “Just in case. Sometimes acting normal… or you know, uh, doing something you always do, can make a shit satiation feel a bit less out of control.” Uma kicked at nothing, scuffing her foot along the floor as she avoided Evie’s eyes, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I dunno, I always did my eyeliner with whatever shit I could find, even on the isle. Helped. Especially running into you two. Always made the isle look like some sort of fashion run.”

And finally, Evie felt the ice-cold wall around her emotions break. Her face crumpled as a sob broke out, “thanks Uma,” she said with a choked voice. Uma pulled her into a tight hug, and let Evie lean on her strength for a moment. Evie trembled ever so slightly under Uma’s fingers, as tears wound their way down her cheeks.

“It’s ok Evie. Anytime.” Uma hummed softly, “It’ll be ok. Mal will be ok. You will get through this, I promise.” She pulled away slightly as Evie’s breathing got steadier, “We will all get through this together. We will all be just outside. Now seriously, have a shower.”

Evie nodded and wiped her eyes with her hand as she pulled out of Uma’s warm hug. “I won’t be long,” said Evie. Uma rolled her eyes gently.

“You’re allowed to have a break. Please.” Uma gave Evie one last reassuring look and flicked her eyes back over to the door, “I’ll be right outside, yeah?”

Evie sniffled and nodded, “yeah.” And Uma left her to it, leaving her kohl eyeliner on the sink with one last delicate flourish of her wrist before the door clicked shut.

And with that, Evie was at last alone, in Ben’s impossibly large bathroom.

Even amidst the flurrying whirlwind of Evie’s emotions, there was still room for a puzzled sort of awe. She had thought that their bathroom at Auradon Prep was luxurious. Clearly, she had been wrong.

She had never imagined there could even be a place for _gold _in a bathroom, let alone the clear excess of it the designer had when adding all the gold framed mirrors, door knobs, taps and other ornaments. Ben’s room at the school, while clearly better than Mal and Evie’s, at least didn’t come with a golden hair brush and what seemed to be an ivory comb.

Evie picked it up in a sort of otherworldly daze, holding the fine-toothed comb between bloody hands. As she turned it over her fingerprints left blood behind. She put it down, feeling sick beyond her stomach. Dropping it to the marble sink before she could catch sight of her reflection.

She didn’t need to look long and hard in the mirror behind the sink to know how awful she looked. She could still feel the blood on her after all, tacky, sticky and endless. It was in her hair too, the ends stuck to her collarbones and her chest, dark and matted with Mal’s blood.

Evie’s chest felt tight with the panic that hadn’t gone away since the first alarm bells had started ringing in her bones at the anniversary. She could still feel Mal’s fingers slipping though hers and see the sorry written in Mal’s eyes.

There was no sorry on Mal’s face now. There hadn’t been a single expression on her face for hours. Only the slack, death like sleep that held her in its clutches.

Evie couldn’t help but hear it ringing in her head, the words to her mother’s favourite, terrible curse. She knew it wasn’t the same, but that’s all that she could think about as she pictured Mal’s still and sallow face.

_A sleep like death from which one can never wake. _

That had been a favourite of Maleficent too. Her mother had poisoned apples, but Maleficent only needed to whisper the words for them to take effect. The stories from that christening had rung throughout the land in the decades since. The green, swirling magic. The curse that rang clear and hollow in every word from Maleficent’s lips. The delight she had taken, in cursing that baby. Reigning horror across that kingdom. The wall of thorns she had created as she made a whole kingdom sleep for a hundred years.

How awfully ironic that her daughter would be stuck in the sleep of death’s clutches for trying to save the very people her mother had tried so hard to punish.

How awful it was that those very same people feared her so much, despite all she had done for them.

Maybe it was time for another wall of thorns. Around her and Mal, all their friends and every kid from the isle. Evie could do it. She felt her magic angry and simmering still beneath her skin. All she would have to do was ask, and it would be there. Ready to tear thorns from the air and build a wall around their new home.

Evie turned away, her eyes smouldering with that old, terrible anger as she stripped her clothes from her skin at last. Hating the flinch on her face as with every grab at the fabric her hands came away damp and redder than before.

It made her so fucking furious, and more than that, below the comforting rage, was a crashing awful sea of grief. It was all _too much. _Evie held onto the anger, it was better. Easier. She could hate far more than she could even remotely comprehend the barest idea of loss… of losing Mal.

Evie’s fingers couldn’t forget though, they trembled as she peeled off her damp, blood encrusted jacket. The unused knife she’d kept in her sleeve all day clanged on the stone tiles as she dropped her coat to the floor.

She had thought to hang it up this evening, that coat. She’d spent hours making It after all, sewing with pride row after row of those sparkling, silver rings. Just like the matching gold that had gone in rows up Mal’s sleeves. She thought she would hang them up in her closet side by side, alongside her ever growing collection of beautiful clothes. But instead it ended up wet with blood in the palace instead on the stone floor of a king’s bathroom.

She thought Mal would be the one to unzip this dress, after a long and boring anniversary. Mal had done it up that morning, after all, with a kiss between her shoulder blades. They had kissed before the ceremony, all alone as they got dressed in their dorm room. Mal had looked so great. Beaming and pretending to be royalty, giving Evie a bow the second she did up her jacket buttons. Evie had laughed, and given Mal a spin to show off her own outfit.

That had been the last laughter on their lips.

She unzipped her dress, reaching up behind her back to find the tiny zipper between her shoulder blades. Evie’s fingers shook as she found it, encrusted with blood, as she dragged it down her back and let her dress fall to the floor. It had been blue that morning. A world away from the death and destruction soaking it now.

Mal’s blood went from here to the dais, dribbled on the carpet, on the needles and scissors and table of the operating theatre. It was everywhere. Everywhere but Mal’s fucking veins where it was supposed to be.

Every day in Auradon seemed to come with less and less reason and sense. Evie should be used to the world shifting beneath her feet by now, but this time she had _liked _where she had ended up. After the coronation, she’d somehow ended up in the arms of the girl she loved. The girl she had accepted, sadly and certain in her bones, that she could never love like _that. _

She had accepted, about as easily as swallowing glass, that it would always be too dangerous for them on the isle. She had forced it down, shoved it to fit into the shape of first and second in command. Comrades in arms and nothing more. Every spark they felt in their fingers and every longing look was hidden behind masks of indifference and cold eyes.

But _here. _

It had flourished between them in Auradon. For the first time in their lives, they had let themselves fall in love. Let themselves be in love. Let themselves be _free. _

Old enemies had become their friends, there was nothing more to be feared between the Pirates and their gang on the isle. But they had new enemies now. That hadn’t been clearer than when Evie had looked out to that sea of angry, fearful faces today.

Old isle rivalries paled so considerably in comparison to the new enemies at their feet. The heroes of an empire, the victors of their parents’ wars. Mysterious masters who controlled werewolves from the woods. All those who would rather see them cast back to the isle than let another child cross. This was the power that had vanquished their parents after all. Locked them up too, left them to die as babies on the isle of the lost.

This was what they faced, with trembling fists and inherited magic. With rusted blades and armour made of Auradon’s scrap.

They could lose so easily.

Finally, Evie peeled off her socks and untangled the silver diadem from her hair, before stepping under the showerhead.

She let the water wash over her, lifting her face up and holding her breath.

_Just wash it all away. _She thought. She hoped.

But if any place had any hope of doing that, it was the enchanted lake, not here. It was no curse that plagued her today either… just memories. This bathroom was as good as any other for helping with them. Nothing would do a bit of difference, until Mal could reach over herself and hold her hand.

Evie stepped forward, taking her face out of the stream and wiping the water out of her eyes before she opened them. As she looked down at her body, she watched the water run red at her feet.

All that blood.

All of it Mal’s.

She couldn’t bring herself to scrub at it yet. She couldn’t. Evie shut her eyes and hoped that when she opened them, it would all be clean.

That this nightmare would be over.

Evie stood there for a few, quiet minutes. Nothing in her head shutting up, no matter how much she tried to drown it all out with the noise of the water. She couldn’t stop seeing it. It wouldn’t stop replaying in her head. Now that she had a few, lonely seconds to herself, every inch of her brain not taken up by worry, the images branded onto her brain forced themselves to the forefront.

Evie couldn’t stop seeing that huge werewolf springing forward while Mal faced down the first. It had moved like lightening, one second there was nothing… and the next a great shadow was diving to attack Ben.

Evie had screamed, a guttural, unearthly sound. A warning so primal, that Mal was so in tune with, it had barely left her throat before Mal had dived to take Ben’s place. And the insanely sharp, powerful claws made to tear Ben in half, had ripped into Mal’s shoulder instead.

Mal had a sorry in her eyes before she had pushed into the crowd and transformed, and seconds later it seemed, her blood was catching the sunlight as it sprayed in an arch across the deck.

_I’m sorry. _Mal had said in her own silent way, before she threw herself at death. Evie couldn’t stop _seeing it. _The sorry. Mal _knew _what she was doing. Just how much it might cost. How much it would _hurt. _

And she had run towards it anyway.

How could anyone think Mal was a dark fairy after any of this? They should be more worried about Evie. What she would do to them… if this took Mal from her.

If they _ever _took Mal from her.

Not a shred of kindness. She would give them not a shred of kindness.

Evie had pushed herself through the crowd as fast as she could, not a speck of gentleness in her as she shoved past the screaming citizens of Auradon. Mal had flown to the dais, made the trip in the blink of an eye. Evie, a grimace on her face with sharp nails had instead clawed past the scared, useless bodies in her path.

_She had to get to Mal. _

Before it was too late.

She could just barely see the fight over the masses of people, peeked through flailing limbs and running away bodies. The huge dragon circled around Ben. The small shadows hellbent on attacking.

She could hear it though. The snarls. The claws on the wood. The _screams. _

Mal’s screams.

All twisted up in a new throat, but Mal’s agony all the same. unfortunately, Evie would recognise it anywhere.

And then that crack. Evie had just spent hours staring at the aftermath of it. The bites savaging her leg before crunching so hard it snapped her bones.

And Evie and the others were still getting through the fucking _crowds. _

_Too late, too late, too late. _An ancient voice had whispered in her ears, as it had so many times on the isle. _You’ll be too late to save her. _

By the time, awful, agonising minutes later, that Evie had forced her way to the front of the throng, her magic was at her fingertips. Burning and boiling and furious and _there. _Angry, coiling and powerful. She had run up those steps, nothing but magic and rage and unleashed everything she had without a second thought.

And Evie’s magic had fed on every speck of hate the isle had ever grown in her. As men trapped her against walls and pierced her skin with their fingernails. As her fingers broke under heels of the spiteful, as monsters held up knives to her throat and drew another thin line in blood. As more scars were added year after year for the pleasure of _barely _surviving. As her mother sold her. For trinkets. As she starved. As her friends got hurt. As she watched them bleed and did all she could to stop it. As she had to watch, held back by Maleficent as her mother held Mal up over a window, “_Evie is mine!” _she had screamed as she dropped Mal to the ground.

Evie had let out a furious, raging storm that had engulfed the world. A screaming, freezing storm of ice and snow and wind. Dousing the fire that had come from Mal’s very throat, with her last burst of breath and knocked the monsters back as they clawed at the deck.

All that anger. All that fear. Fighting against the_ you’ll be too late _ringing in Evie’s ears with every bit of love and anger she possessed.

She would _not _let Mal die for them.

Shards of ice, more powerful than anything she had done before had flung themselves out of thin air. Huge and deadly, sharp as knives, shattered into the deck and sliced across the bodies of Mal’s attackers. Uma had joined her, like a wall of magic at her back. Backing up and strengthening every wave of Evie’s attacks with her rings of choppy ocean magic.

And by some furious miracle, it had worked. They had driven them away.

It had worked.

Evie felt so tired. She had an ache in her soul beyond comprehension. With a heart-breaking, gut wrenching sob, she sunk to the floor of the huge stone shower as she wondered just how much more fight she had in her. Just how many more days could Evie live through like this? How many more times would she have to watch the people she loved get torn to shreds? How many more times could Evie stand before monsters, before there was nothing left in her to fight with?

She had hoped for peace once. She had thought it in their grasp only hours ago. The world had been looking up in its strange, new way.

But that had been a dream, the days they had lived here, hopeful of their new future. The future they had promised to all the children on the isle. Evie didn’t know what she hoped now, the heavy, crushing weight of fear on her shoulders was too encompassing.

They would have to fight. They would always have to fight.

Evie felt stupid for thinking it would ever be easy. That it would all have been wiped away, solved from the second they refused to bow before Maleficent at that coronation.

Evie was made for war, every inch of her. She was scarred and broken, and she had survived so much. She knew how to fight, where to strike, she knew how to shed her mercy. She knew how to enter a ring and make sure she left alive, no matter the cost.

No matter the cost.

But she had let the other parts of herself grow here, the kind parts. The parts that had only survived by a hairsbreadth on the isle. Hidden behind the last rib in Evie’s chest. Hidden with everything she had, in the shadows of her bones, a tiny, futile speck of hope.

It flickered now. As the water washed over Evie’s ancient, trembling body.

She had hoped the fight was over. The pain. Bartering with her life and getting new scars. Watching the people she loved bleed out as she held them. Feeling their blood coat her hands as she used ever speck of knowledge she had to save their lives. The hours and hours she spent, praying to unhearing stars that they would wake up again. That the ones she loved would once more look into her eyes, and hold her hand. 

It was all _too much. _

The water continued to flow and Evie thought that last speck of hope might flow with it. Wash away down the drain, torn from her body like the isle had never quite managed.

She felt it waiver all the same. As she sat, her head on her knees, a hollow, endless sob escaping from her throat.

Mal dreamt of the dark.

It was strange, it felt like it could go on forever. It was like Mal had slipped right from Evie’s arms into the nothingness below the ground.

It was stone. All of it. All around her.

Endless, endless, endless.

It was like her soul had been drawn to it, because in a blink Mal was before a throne.

She hadn’t moved, neither had the stone corridor around her. But in a moment, there had been nothing, and the next, a huge atrium appeared form the rocks and Mal was dwarfed by a throne room.

Well… less of a throne _room… _and more of a big dark nothingness with a stone throne in the centre of it.

Weirdly, it felt like Mal had been there before. Everything, even the omnipresent dark around her, felt a little too familiar.

Like Mal had always been there, like a part of her had anyway. Like her very bones could belong to this place below the dirt. Like she too, might have been carved from this very same stone once.

As she stood there, timeless, Mal got the feeling of eternity spinning to a halt. Like she was destined only for a brief, shining moment in the world of man. Like _this _was the place she would always belong. Like she had been here before… and it would most certainly end here too. This was the place her soul would always come back to. Come death or the rising sea, Mal would find herself before this throne again one day.

Mal was drawn to it. She wanted to touch it, reach out and feel the cold stone beneath her fingertips. Pain might not have followed her into the dark, but her soul still remembered where she had been. Still remembered the claws that had nearly cleaved her shoulder in two.

She couldn’t move her arm, or walk on her shattered ankle. All she could do was stare into the endless dark. Feeling the pull on her soul. She could still feel the blood dripping down her body, spilling from bone deep cuts. She could taste it on her tongue. It felt strange, that she brought her own spilled blood before this dais of stone.

It splashed onto the floor anyway, it didn’t care if it awoke some ancient dark.

Mal didn’t need to know what the throne was, to know deep in her soul that it had been there for an eternity. This abyss had certainly always been here.

It was unfathomably ancient. Like since the first crawling walking thing had made a home out of the world above, this monolith that radiated power had been below. All would be drawn before it eventually. It had the magnetic pull of something inevitable.

Mal didn’t feel a bit surprised.

It felt inevitable that she stood bleeding before it. Drawn to sit, drawn to lay beneath the earth in the cold, giving her bones back to the stone. It had been there for time immemorial… and Mal would be too.

The torches that lined the walls were all out. Rows of them stuck out of the walls of stone. Dark, ragged sticks like they had been hewn from the very cavern itself.

It didn’t feel right. Something tugged at Mal’s gut and put a frown on her face.

Those torches should be _lit. _

This cavern, as dark and spooky as it was, should be dancing with moving shadows. Should be full of flickers of flame and the glowing, burning coals of life. A dark and beautiful flame belonged here…. She couldn’t place why she knew, but she knew.

But it was empty. The walls were still. Not a flicker of light lit up the ancient abyss.

It felt wrong, to Mal’s very soul.

_She_ could fix the abhorrent wrong around her. She could bring fire back to this place. She had unleashed it from her throat only moments ago after all. She had let out a torrent of real, boiling fire straight from the pits of her beast body and soul to ingulf her enemies.

But like Mal’s broken body, her throat had been torn apart by angry claws, she could do nothing but a silent scream. A silent and unanswered prayer.

There would be no fire here today. Fire would not return home to this seat of power today… and neither would Mal.

As Mal screamed silence, blood dripping from her bloodstained teeth, all the stone fell away and Mal was back in the endless dark.

Mal woke up to the dark, with only the dim embers from a dying fire lighting the room around her. Her head was heavy, deep in a pillow far too soft to belong to her. She couldn’t move, the blankets keeping her down seemed to have been tucked into all four corners of the bed.

Mal was confused. She blinked down fuzzily at her bed. She usually woke up in a mess of blankets from her insane amount of wiggling and moving in her sleep. But here she was, waking from endless dreams of the dark, in an almost perfectly made bed. Her body was flat on her back and untangled in her blankets. She wasn’t even hugging a pillow and drooling into it.

Mal made a strangled sort of groan as she moved her head to the side. Not only did her head feel like it weighed several tonnes, it burned like no tomorrow when she even slightly engaged her muscles.

_Oh_, Mal thought. _There was Evie. _They were sharing the same pillow. Evie must surely be able to feel Mal’s soft snorts of breath on her forehead, but she was utterly knocked out. Mal could only just make out her features, the dim light of the fire brushed across Evie’s cheeks and showed just how dark the circles under her eyes were.

She wasn’t even under the covers like Mal was, she was simply curled up on top of them like she hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Mal’s fingers twitched, they were safe in Evie’s grasp. Mal’s hand was poking out from under the blankets and intwined with Evie’s fingers.

Evie had fallen asleep holding her hand.

Mal wondered groggily just how long she had been asleep. It seemed like only seconds ago that she had slipped into that welcoming dark, held upright by Evie’s unwavering body. It must have been quite some time, however. The ceremony had been held as the sun shone brightly at midday. The room around them was pitch black. Mal could faintly see bright pinpricks of stars from the huge window across from the bed.

One thing was certain, Mal wasn’t in her dorm room. Her narrow bed could barely hold her flailing body on a good day, let alone both Evie and Mal in their favoured starfish positions.

Mal’s eyes caught on the banners on the wall, and the ancient swords that crossed over the fire place. Underneath the huge window, sat a great oak desk and upon the wood, sat a gleaming golden crown.

O_h. _

They were in the _palace. _

This must be Ben’s room. Mal frowned groggily at the room around her, barely seeing anything in the dark. All she could really get the sense of was just how large it was, it made her and Evie’s room at the school look like a storage cupboard. The grand windows swallowed up most of the wall opposite the bed Mal was in. The shining moon lit up the forest beyond the palace. Beyond even that, out of Mal’s line of sight, would be the crashing sea itself. Beyond that, the isle. If they were just a few stories higher, they would be able to see it from here.

But Mal was still here, so was Evie. At least she hadn’t woken up there. Shunted back onto the isle while she fought to wake up from the dark. Her friends would have put up a fight, who knows what would have happened the second one of them bared their teeth. It would not have been pretty… it would not have been safe. Open hostilities would come to a head at last, between the Heroes of Auradon and their child enemies.

It made Mal exhale with a shaky breath. Relief, pure and absolute relief flooded her bones. No one had died because of her. Because of the choice she made today… not yet anyway.

Mal’s tense body sank back against the unbelievably soft bed, her fingers curling gently around Evie’s. Her warm lifeline, grounding her to the present.

She was safe. She was alive. Evie and her friends were all still here, in Auradon.

But Mal felt anxiety chewing up her ribs, spitting out different endings to the celebrations. Endings where she hadn’t held out that long, endings where the wolves ripped her limb from limb and got Ben too. Endings where her friends dove into the line of fire… and broke before their brand new enemies.

In all her life, Mal had never been in a fight like _that. _

She was used to fighting children and psychopathic adults. She was used to fighting with knives made of scrap mental and rusty knuckledusters. Mal was used to having her small size used against her, she was used to being thrown about and strongarmed into chokeholds.

She had learned to be fast, unflinching and unpredictable. The second Mal got forced into a headlock was the second she shoved her spikey knuckleduster into the soft flesh of a thigh. She was used to clawing her way out of fights, and dodging heavy fisted attacks. She was quick on her feet, unable to rely on her strength and stature alone. The monsters of the isle truly dwarfed her, so she had learned to be feared for other reasons.

That fight had taken everything she had ever learned and flipped it completely on its head. For once _she _had been the bigger opponent, trying to attack smaller, faster targets. In a sick way, it had been like watching Mal and Evie fight together to take down some isle villain or another. Mal was used to _attacking _like a tiny psychopath… she was not used to brawn, the claws, teeth and wings of a new body.

Mal hadn’t even fought off a _dog _like that before. The dogs that did make it past puppyhood didn’t last very long. It was one of Cruella’s sick pet projects… hunting them. Skinning them. Making them scream with animal cries of pain… they always sounded far too human for Mal to bear. If there had ever been a dog on the isle who had lasted long enough to fight back, bear its teeth and learn to attack, Cruella be damned there wasn’t any by the time Mal was growing up. She had absolutely no experience with fighting things that were all instinct, all razor sharp claws and no shred of humanity.

Because even cruel, human monsters could be tricked by their basest instincts, trapped by things Mal could hold over them. She could force them to bow by other means that physical strength… but those wolves… they hadn’t had a bit of humanity in them. Not a flaw to exploit or weak spot to break between her teeth.

Fighting those werewolves had been like fighting smoke with very sharp claws.

Unpredictable, fast, and incredibly deadly.

Mal was, in all honestly, surprised she had survived at all.

Mal felt a sick lurch in her stomach. Ben wouldn’t have had a chance. The whole world would have watched him get ripped to death in seconds. 

It was only because of Evie and Uma that Mal was alive at all, that storm of magic they had unleashed as Mal’s last defences crumbled.

Mal could feel it all now, all that agony wrought upon her body.

She didn’t lift the blankets, or dare to move her fingers from Evie’s death like embrace, but she knew. She could feel the damage, the new raw injuries ripping across her body.

The arm that wasn’t in Evie’s grasp, was tight to her chest. She tried to wiggle it, but came up short. It had been restrained, bound to her chest. It was her shoulder, she knew it.

It was tight with hundreds of stitches. Every twitch of Mal’s arm or body sent pain shooting though her. It was like she could feel every single bit of thread holding her skin together.

She felt sure a sneeze would burst it all back to an open wound.

Her leg was the heaviest. She couldn’t move it even a bit, not that she wanted to. She could still hear the crack ringing in her ears as her bones had snapped between the monsters jaws. Her whole weight had borne down on a broken bone and the agony had nearly made her pass out.

The only other bone Mal had broken as badly as that, was her wrist, when the Evil Queen had throne her from that window. If Mal had broken a leg on the isle… it would have been a death sentence. Even her wrist, had been like a noose around her neck, waiting for her to slip up just the tiniest amount.

Mal breathed out and pushed those thoughts aside. What’s done was done. She was alive, and so were the others. Ben was unhurt, the crown was in safe hands and Auradon hadn’t been tipped into political unrest. The cost would come later, but for now, all Mal could do was lay there unmoving. Staring at Evie’s sleeping face, dimly lit by the last embers of the fire.

She looked exhausted, and even in the dark, Mal could see the tear tracks down her cheeks. It made her heart squeeze in her chest, knowing just how much pain Evie had been in while Mal was asleep.

Mal stroked the back of Evie’s hand with her fingers, not wishing to wake her up. She looked totally wiped out, her skin was almost as pale as Mal’s. She had dark circles under her eyes. She probably hadn’t stopped once since the fight. Wired up and anxious, ready to go at the drop of a hat. 

Mal didn’t stop stroking Evie’s fingers gently for a long time, until she too, finally fell asleep.

As the sun rose on the new day, Mal and Evie held each other as close as possible as Evie sobbed into Mal’s shirt.

“I really thought I’d lost you.” She said between broken gasps for air, tears running down her cheeks, her fingers curling around Mal’s soft hair.

Evie had woken as the sun broke through the curtains, a few short minutes earlier, to see sparkling green eyes staring at her from across the pillow.

“Hey,” Mal had whispered, her voice hoarse, a tiny grin playing on the edge of her lips.

Evie had felt her whole heart stutter in her chest, and in an instant, she was wide awake as adrenaline shot through her. Her face crumpled immediately as she flung herself forward, and tears flooded her eyes.

“_Mal,” _Evie’s voice broke as she took Mal’s face gently in her hands. She shuffled so she was as close as possible, lying next to Mal on the huge bed. Their noses were almost touching, their heads on the same pillow.

Evie couldn’t get enough of her; she ran her fingers through Mal’s hair as she felt tears leak onto the pillow. Mal managed to get her free arm up and run it gently along Evie’s cheek.

“You didn’t lose me,” Said Mal, “I’m right here. I’m _ok.”_

Mal kissed Evie with everything she had, her breath shaky and her hand trembling against Evie’s cheek.

Evie let out a half choked sob, kissing Mal back with all the love in the world. She breathed out, her forehead resting against Mal’s. She felt Mal’s warm skin and her soft breathing filling up all the empty hopeless places between Evie’s ribs. Mal was _alive. _Warm and breathing and alive and _right there. _

They stayed like that for a long time, whispered conversations just for the two of them. Mal never once let go of Evie’s face, stoking her hair behind her ear and tracing gentle circles on her skin.

Evie laced her fingers behind Mal’s head, and snuggled as close as she could to Mal’s chest. Their hair splayed out on the pillow all mingled together.

Evie chewed on her lip, worried. “Mal, I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

Mal had a similar anxious look on her face. “I know.” She squeezed Evie’s hand reassuringly anyway. “But no matter what happens, we will get through it together.”

Mal let out a trembling breath as she looked into Evie’s eyes, emotion rippling across her face. “Evie,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice waivered, and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. “I didn’t even think. I – I just left. I left you all behind. I just saw it coming… and I knew that the only chance – the only chance Ben had… was if I let it out.” Mal choked back a sob. “But now they know.”

Evie wiped the tears away gently, “If you hadn’t, Ben would have died.” Evie’s voice broke. “He would have died right in front of us. And – And if you hadn’t…” Evie struggled to find the words. She looked Mal gravely in the eyes, “who knows what would have happened to us without Ben” She trailed off quietly. “There would have been no hope for the isle.”

Evie burrowed her face into Mal’s chest gently. “I hate that it came down to you, _again.” _Tears spilled down Evie’s cheeks and soaked into Mal’s shirt. “But you saved us Mal. You _saved us again.”_

Mal sniffed, her own tears spilling over again, and tightened her arm around Evie’s shoulders. Evie’s soft blue hair caressing her cheek. “I wouldn’t have managed without _you. _You came. You _came. _And – And you drove them away.” Mal’s voice was raw, “I didn’t have much longer. You _saved me, _again.”

Mal trembled, “What would I do without you, Evie?” Her fingers curled around Evie’s soft shirt. “All those years on the isle… I hate to think who I might have become, if you hadn’t been by my side. If you hadn’t been there, taking me back to our hideout. If I didn’t have a single thing to truly love… I might have become the monster Maleficent truly wanted.”

Evie stared up at Mal’s watery eyes, “Without you, without you at my back, I can’t imagine surviving what I have. You were there, after every – every god forsaken trade. You pulled me back, held me close. And without – “ Evie stuttered, “Without that promise you made. That line you drew… all those men you crossed. All that pain you inflicted, for _me. _You made yourself scarier than the Queen. You did that so that _I would be safe. _How could I ever repay you for that?”

Mal squished her cheek against Evie’s shoulder. “You have done the same, and more for me.”

They stayed like that for a long time.

Carlos found them like that a few hours later, as he opened the guarded door to Ben’s suite balancing a few trays of food In his hands. Uma trailed in behind him, dark shadows under her tired eyes, her hand securely on the hilt of her dagger. Their gazes softened at once as they spotted them tight in each other’s embraces, fast asleep.

Carlos smiled, although his eyes were still full of worry. He put the trays on the bedside table quietly. If anyone deserved some sleep, it was Evie, finally relaxed with the knowledge that Mal truly was safe.

Carlos cracked his knuckles and turned to Uma, “alright Uma, I think Its time you had a good old fashioned nap as well.” He pulled a long, rugged knife from his boot quickly and raised his eyebrows with a grin. “I can take over guard duty for a bit, keep Jay company.”

Uma yawned, and for once did not protest. “Alright, that sounds fair.” She eyed the bed as she kicked off her shoes, “do you think they’ll notice?”

Carlos shook his head, “they are so close to the edge, it’s like their bodies still think they’re in their dorm. You have a good three quarters of the bed to yourself. Besides- “ he added darkly, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up. Who knows if any of us could easily get back into the palace.”

Uma nodded in agreement. “This room is huge anyways,” she jerked her head towards the far end of the room, shaped in an L shape, where Harry and Gill was sprawled across the Huge U sofa’s that surrounded an ornate coffee table. “There are plenty of places for us all to crash. Make sure you wake Harry up later.” She shot a sly grin at Carlos. “And Jay can get some sleep.” She wriggled her eyebrows, “_right _next to Gill.”

Carlos grinned catching on, “Ah, there is only _one _sofa after all. And you have so kindly already accepted the last bit of the bed.”

Uma nodded gravely, “what a burden.”

When Mal next woke up, she snorted with laughter as soon as she spotted Uma face down across the bed. Evie blinked awake, and shot Mal a sleepy grin as soon as she looked over at what Mal was chuckling about.

Evie made a face, “how on earth can she breathe like that?” She whispered to Mal conspiratorially.

“Maybe it’s an ocean power, being able to breathe while supposed to be suffocating?”

Evie snorted. “God she’s so _cute, _she looks like she is trying to strangle her pillow in her sleep.”

“I hope she’s winning whatever fight she’s dreaming about.” Mal laughed.

Uma cracked open an eye, “mMmmmMMMmmmm” she grumbled, and something that sounded like “of course I was winning.”

“Glad you’re ok” Uma grunted, not moving her face from her pillow.

“Thanks,” replied Mal. “Thanks, for you know, saving my ass and everything.”

Uma turned her face to Mal and grinned, “Ah that’s something I could get used to.”

Mal used her only working arm to throw a pillow at Uma’s head. Uma wrapped her arms around it like she was hugging it, and sank back into the mattress. “_Thanks” _She mumbled, her eyes already closing.

At last, when everyone had finally had enough sleep, all the isle kids gathered around the coffee table. Sitting on the plush U sofa that they had been taking shifts napping on throughout the night.

Mal’s leg was propped up on the table, resting on a pile of Ben’s pillows. Her mouth was in a tight line, the pain seeping past her medication despite its best efforts.

Evie sat next to her, their hands never parting. Evie spun her knife absent-mindedly in her other hand. Looking around the table, there were many weapons out in the open. Where before, they would have been hidden up sleeves and tucked away into boots, it was past that time now.

The air was a mix of relief, everyone was alive and here after all, and apprehension. No one knew what was to come. What they had set in motion from yesterday’s events.

Mal was dressed in a loose shirt and baggy pants, they’d cut the pants at the knee on her right leg so it could slip on past her heavy plaster cast. Her arm was in a sling, tight to her chest and bandages wrapped around her neck, shoulder, and disappeared beneath her collar.

Evie was first to break the silence. She dug her knife into the coffee table, uncaring as she broke its smooth perfect surface, and pulled up the book beside her.

“Fairy Godmother gave me this yesterday. She dropped it off after the council meeting.” The book was thick and ancient, and Evie’s voice was grave and serious. She took a heavy breath and looked around the coffee table. “It’s a spell book.”

There were gasps, and Mal’s fingers tightened around Evie’s.

_“What?” _Said Uma, incredulous. “But… spell books have been banned in Auradon. Since before we were born.”

Evie nodded, “I know.” She bit her lip. “She said we might need it soon.” Evie put the book down on her lap, and ran her fingers over the cover. “A long time ago, they could teach magic all across Auradon. Fairy Godmother herself, used to train generations of heroes. Of young enchantresses, fairies… all those with magical blood. _She _used to be the Good Fairy. Before the kingdoms became Auradon. Before they locked her wand away in the museum.” She met Uma’s eyes across from her. “This was a warning. She wants us to be prepared”

_“You will need this soon…”_ Uma whispered. Her eyes sad and heavy with dread. She let out a rattling sigh. “I’m not surprised.” She looked around at the two old gangs, “everything is different now. We all felt it. Everything has changed.”

Mal bit her lip and did not meet anyone’s eyes as she spoke quietly, “I have confirmed their greatest fears. Before now, because we did not show any great display of our power… because we contained it from the moment we arrived here… they might have assumed that we were not as great a threat as our parents before us.” Mal paused for a moment before continuing. The atmosphere of the room heavy with dread. “I let them assume, and did not correct them, that as a halfling, I was not as powerful as my mother. That her great power, the one that they so feared, had not passed to me.”

Mal finally looked up, “I showed them the form they dread above all else. Another dragon like Maleficent.” Her eyes were glistening with tears, with the horrible fear that she, alone, had ruined their future here.

Uma shut that down at once. “No, Mal. It’s not your fault. They want _any _reason not to trust us. You’ve heard them talking before this, they hated that somehow you all became friends with Ben. They hated that he saw something in isle kids to trust, enough to send you four to Auradon without even having met you. They were so _angry _when we arrived. That somehow after the coronation, when everyone was distracted, that you two got us three off the isle as well. Believe me,” said Uma darkly, “they were just waiting for something to happen. For one of us to slip up. Make a mistake… or practise outlawed magic.”

Carlos put one hand on Mal’s knee, “it’s not your fault. It’s not.”

Mal looked at him tearily, and he wrapped his arm around her waist gently in answer. She leant on his shoulder.

Harry leaned forward. “We don’t know what will happen from here on out. How they will react. You saved their king, but I doubt they will like to be in debt to any children of the isle.”

Carlos nodded. “All we can do I wait. Be prepared… but wait.”

Evie flicked through the pages of the book again and made a face at Uma across from her, “And I suppose we will prepare too. Whatever happens… having a few more spells on our side can’t hurt.”

Uma nodded. “Next time we will be ready.” She looked down at her hands. “Think about it, we could learn shield spells. Healing spells. We could face down our attackers, and actually be able to stand our ground.”

Mal agreed with a hum. Her eyes far away. “I’ll learn too. I won’t always be able to rely on turning into a dragon. Sometimes being a bigger target…” she didn’t finish, but the look on her face said enough. The toll on her body said enough. _Sometimes being a bigger target… is worse. _

It was almost evening again, by the time Ben visited Mal in his palace chambers. He’d clearly been scrubbed within an inch of his life, since he’d been doused in Mal’s blood at the anniversary celebrations. He’d changed from the royal finery he’d been in for the coronation. But he still had his crown atop his head and his gilded sword strapped to his side. He was in another fine suit. Unfortunately, Appearances meant a lot at the council meetings full of the heroes.

He’d had to go to the war council, or whatever they were called in peacetime, in spite of the hairsbreadth he had come to death. The meeting had lasted well into the night, past the long hours the doctors had spent stitching up Mal’s body. Another had begun as daylight once again broke this morning. Ben must have found somewhere else to sleep, in a palace full of rooms It wouldn’t have been difficult for the King. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he tentatively fingered the hilt of his sword as he entered.

The isle kids at the door let him pass with a grave, respectful nod. It was Harry and Carlos’s turn. They spent the hours practising their intimidating looks, Harry had always been better at it than Carlos, and flinging and catching their daggers in the air.

Ben’s whole face crumpled as soon as he laid eyes on Mal. She looked fine, laughing at something or another, sitting side by side with Evie on the huge sofa no one ever sat on. Everything in the King’s room was more of a statement piece, but wherever the isle kids went, they made it more and more like a home. Her foot was up on the ancient heirloom coffee table, and Ben felt his mouth slip into a watery grin as he saw Evie and Mal’s daggers upright in the fine wood. They had every right and more.

“_Mal,” _Ben’s voice broke as tears finally spilled down his cheeks. He hadn’t cried once since the ceremony; it had been all steel gazes and unemotive expressions in the hours of meetings since. Even last night, he had barely sunk into sleep at all. Unable to stop replaying it all over and over in his head, the tears hadn’t come. Too shocked, too scared, too numb.

He was kneeling beside the sofa at once. Fumbling for his crown and casting it aside, it rang out as it spun, settling on the coffee table. Mal took him in her arms at once, well, arm. She wrapped her hand around his back and pulled him closer.

“It’s ok, Ben. It’s ok. I’m here, you’re ok, I’m ok.” She rubbed circles into his back as he sobbed, broken hearted and utterly distraught.

Ben sniffed, “You almost died because of _me.” _

“Well I guess that makes us even.” Said Mal.

“What?” Ben managed, between his sobs.

“You walked into your coronation with your head held high. You almost died for _me, _first.”

Ben’s fingers wrapped gently around Mal’s T-shirt. “What – that – that doesn’t count. I didn’t get _hurt.”_

Mal hummed. “No, but you did step before Maleficent. Which in my mind… is actually scarier?”

She pulled away so she could look Ben in the eyes, her eyes glistened with her own unshed tears. “Let’s just call it even, huh? You saved my life… I saved yours. That’s not even counting that you gave us a chance… you gave us the opportunity to be safe, have real, meaningful lives here in Auradon. _Of course, _I’d try and save you. You’re one of my _best friends.” _

Evie’s hand wiped a tear off Ben’s cheek gently, “you really think we’d leave you defenceless after you risked everything to help us? We were always going to have your back Ben. No matter what.”

Mal nodded and then patted the seat next to her, “Now come on, sit down. You look like you need it.”

They returned to their dorm rooms that night, despite Ben’s assurances they could stay in his palace wing for as long as they wanted.

Everyone came with Mal and Evie to drop them off at their dorm room. After a few friendly minutes of conversation, they all retreated to their own rooms. Uma dragged Carlos behind her, shooting him a look when he tried to stay behind. The exact wiggle of her eyebrows made it pretty clear, it was time for some Mal and Evie, alone time.

And so, at last, after two whole days, Mal and Evie were finally back in their dorm room. Totally alone. Mal sank into Evie’s bed, entwining her fingers in Evie’s as they both lay back and stared up at the high vaulted ceiling.

It didn’t take Evie long to sit up and wriggle closer to Mal. Mal might not have ease of mobility, and might have taken a pretty huge hit only a day ago, but that didn’t stop Evie from putting her legs over Mal’s stomach and sitting on her hips.

Mal grinned up at Evie, her long blue hair draped across Mal’s shoulders. “Hi.” She said stupidly.

“Hi,” Said Evie back, reaching down and tucking a lock of Mal’s hair behind her ear. Evie grinned slyly, before leaning down and kissing her.

Mal returned the kiss at once, beaming with happiness, and her hands made their way to Evie’s waist.

“I – have – missed – you – so – much,” said Evie, in-between kisses.

“I – have – missed – you – too,” replied Mal. Her fingers flitting across Evie’s ribs and old scars.

“If I didn’t know any better – I’d say – you – were – taking advantage – of my – broken – ankle”

Evie only hummed in response, before reaching up and pulling off her shirt. Mal’s eyes went wide and she shut up pretty quickly after that.

“If I – didn’t – know – any better” Replied Evie, as Mal hungrily kissed her, “I’d say - you were - enjoying it”

Mal grinned.

Surprising everyone but the isle kids, Mal appeared at breakfast on Monday, only 3 days after the attack.

Mal was used to fighting with a broken body. All of the isle kids were. The war on the isle didn’t stop just because someone broke a bone or got hurt. Usually they could brush off their cuts and bruises, bandage up their aching ribs and stare down their enemies like nothing was wrong.

Even when dire circumstances came upon them, when wounds got close to death blows and more blood escaped them than they’d ever seen before – they couldn’t stop and rest for long.

Mal had fought off someone only days after the Evil Queen had pushed her from a window after all. Her arm broken, her neck scabbing over, a new cut splitting her temple.

Evie had to stand tall before her mother even when her ribs were broken behind her zipped up jacket and her fingers were bound together, shattered from fury beneath a vile man’s heel. Even when Evie had been stabbed in the calf, she’d had to stand tall. Even when Mal was recovering from Uma’s knife in her stomach she’d had to outrun monsters and scale a rooftop to get to safety.

It was life or death.

So it didn’t surprise anyone apart from their new Auradon friends, when Mal showed up for breakfast with a pleased smile on her face.

Ben almost dropped his breakfast tray. “Mal?! You were allowed to take as much time off as you wanted?”

Mal shrugged and smiled at him. “Missed ya.”

Mal’s ankle was still stuck in a cast and her arm still hung from her chest in a sling, but Evie was right there. Her arm around Mal’s waist and her smile beaming right at Mal. Mal had a crutch in her only free hand, but didn’t seem perturbed by the total lack of mobility.

She slid into the seat on the end of the row to overall smiles and cheers from Carlos, Jay, Uma, Harry and Gil.

Mal gave a short bow with a wide smile, “I know, I know, the conquering hero has returned. I will be accepting any and all offerings and bounty.” She said seriously. Evie rolled her eyes, but sneakily pick pocketed a bunch of grapes of a nearby students tray before presenting it too Mal with a sneaky smile.

“Ah! The offerings begin.” Mal cheered.

“Of course, commander.” Said Carlos, as he slid his orange juice across the table.

Mal hummed, “Acceptable.”

Jay held up Uma’s watch. “Does this count?”

“Hey!” snapped Uma, snatching it back. Jay shrugged, and wiggled his fingers, “Light fingers, What can I say.”

Uma held up Jay’s ring with a raised eyebrow. He spluttered. She gave it back in exchanged for a bow of defeat.

“Fine!” Said Jay, and picked up his tea and gave it to Mal with a flourish.

Uma shrugged, “I guess… I wouldn’t mind parting with a few of these biscuits.” She said inconspicuously. And piled a few next to Jay’s sacrificed tea cup. Mal beamed, she knew Uma practically worshipped the chocolate biscuits she’d discovered in Auradon. She gave her a fist bump.

Harry laughed and presented Mal with half of his sandwich. Gil paused thoughtfully as he looked over his tray. He settled on giving Mal one of his muffins. He’d grabbed many. Blueberry muffins had never been inhaled quicker, than until Gil arrived in Auradon that was for sure.

Ben shut his mouth, he’d just been staring at Mal in incredulation. A spark lit up his eyes, and he reached into his backpack. “I was going to bring these to you after second period, in the break,” he grinned, “but this seems like a good offering.” He pulled out a punnet of strawberries and Mal promptly lost her shit.

“Oh my god Ben, are those _strawberries?!” _

Carlos nudged Uma, “I guess we’ve found a winner then?” he whispered.

Mal spent a happy breakfast eating all the offerings she’d been given, feeling her heart glow in her chest. With friends like these, she could take on _three _werewolves.

Auradon had changed since the celebrations had turned into a battle zone.

Mal could feel the change in the air around her. It felt like they were all on the brink of something. New. Dangerous. Uncharted.

It made Mal’s soul ache for how things had been before, only days ago. Their future had seemed clearer, easier. Like the path through the trails with the heroes, would not be as fraught with misunderstandings as they feared. But after the attack, after Mal and the others had shown their powers, and more than that… they had shown how great their loyalty to _Ben _was. It wouldn’t be so simple.

She had thought that they would plead their case, and the isle would be written out of existence. That finally, it would be recognised as a great injustice, not as the beacon of Auradon’s strength. They’d all stand witness, tell the tales of their childhoods. They would spare no agony, no memory too awful, in the hopes it would stop another experiencing the same fate.

Then, all it would take was the passing vote from the council of heroes and an official stamp and signature. Only those who had done it unto law, could undo it too, after all.

She thought she’d stand there, before the people who had been her parents greatest enemies, her scars proof of their testimony; and live to see the signatures signed. A declaration of a new day. She thought the world would begin anew for them and all the other children on the isle.

Using words, instead of weapons, to shape their world.

But Mal could feel a new storm brewing. Evie had told her about it, whispered it in the dead of night as they clung to each other. Of how the heroes had looked at them all, at Mal especially, with such undisguised hatred. How Evie had felt it then, to her very bones, that that moment would come back to haunt them.

She could no longer trust, like she once had, that their words would be enough. She’d believe in words for only months, but blood had a strong way of speaking… loathe she was to admit it. She’d believed, against all the isle had taught her, that this time, words would be enough. Auradon would welcome them. Recognise them, as citizens.

But Mal didn’t quite believe it anymore. That old familiar doubt and dread had found its way back. The old crown Mal had worn for as long as she could remember. She no longer expected it to be quite as easy as one simple declaration. The anniversary celebrations had taught her that, and those scars would mar her body for the rest of her life.

She’d finally seen a part of it, the new patchwork on her skin. She’d been closing her eyes as the wounds were redressed. Not looking in the mirror to see what had happened to her shoulder, to her throat. Her leg would come even later, after the great monstrous cast came off her weary leg.

Showering was new and difficult. But Mal had been in harder spots on the isle, trying to clean herself in a deadly ocean or makeshift shower Carlos had rigged up with every piece of duct tape ever found on the isle, with a stab wound or a broken wrist.

Besides, they gave her a little stool to sit on. A bag to wrap her cast in and plastic to tape over her shoulder.

Also… Evie helped.

Sure, they spent a lot of time in the shower, not showering, but they got the job done. However slowly.

Evie had pried the medical kit from the Doctor about a week after the attack. Sick of seeing the fear reflect in his eyes as he worked on possibly the smallest ‘monster’ Evie had ever seen. She was so short, skinny and not at all about to turn into a dragon. It infuriated her to no end.

She had wrestled control over Mal’s medical treatment shortly after the 3rd time the doctor had dropped his tools in response to Mal a) sneezing, b) flinching, c) laughing unexpectedly. Evie had gentle fingers anyway, and an abundance of experience. With the right tools at her disposal at once, she made a very good nurse.

All it was, was regular cleaning and redressing of Mal’s neck and shoulder anyway. Piece of cake.

Evie had cleaned Mal’s shoulder gently, the first time Mal decided to look at it. Evie didn’t miss the way her hands trembled as she turned to face herself in the bathrooms long mirror.

Her breath caught in her chest as she spotted it, the five deep, long claw marks twisting around her shoulder. It had been stitched up neatly, too many to count. Mal’s fingers gently ghosted it.

“Woah.” She breathed out.

Evie took Mal’s hand from behind her. “Yeah.” She said quietly. “woah.”

Her neck was ok, the new fang marks went over the top of the old scars once created by the Evil Queens long nails, as she dangled Mal out of a window. Mal leaned into Evie’s shoulder. “Those, I don’t mind covering.”

“That isn’t a memory I like to remember.” Agreed Evie.

Mal sat back down, as Evie bandaged it all up again. “Thanks Evie,” said Mal, standing up to hug her.

Evie burrowed her head into Mal’s other shoulder. “Anytime.”

Mal was going on about how great strawberries were at breakfast on Friday, when she mentioned she’d first had them at the enchanted lake. Uma promptly lost her shit.

“Wait – what?!” she interrupted, her eyes wide, “you’re telling me, that there is a magical lake nearby?!” she nearly choked on her tea. “WHAT. Why have you never mentioned it before? Where – is – it?!”

Mal paused mid chew of her apple, looking at Uma in a stunned silence. “What” she said, distorted through the amount of apple in her mouth. “Huh? Yeah, it’s like half an hour away. In the woods. It’s where Ben broke the love spell, we put on him, by accident. I didn’t mention it because,” Mal shrugged, “we weren’t friends the last time I went there. It’s no surprise I didn’t let you in on my –“ Mal made air quote with her fingers sarcastically, “happy place.”

Uma narrowed her eyes at Mal suspiciously, “is _that_ where you run off too?”

Mal bit a huge amount of apple and didn’t say anything, chewing loudly.

Uma hit Mal on the arm. “Oh my god, we have to go there, _please, _we _have _to go.” Uma groaned as Mal stared at her in silence, clearly trying to annoy her into agreeing. Uma swiped the worlds loudest apple from Mal’s hand to hopefully speed up the conversation. “_Mal,” _Uma moaned, “I haven’t gone swimming in months, not since we got off the isle!” She narrowed her eyes at Mal, “I have to go. You _have _to take me.”

Mal didn’t answer and instead tried to steal her apple back. Uma glared at her and held it high above her. A place Mal couldn’t reach with her broken ankle in the world’s most heavy cast.

Uma smirked.

“Urgh!” Groaned Mal dramatically. Throwing her hands up in surrender. “Fine! We can go tomorrow. We have the whole weekend.” Mal poked Uma in the ribs, “you apple thief gremlin.”

Uma beamed, and let the apple drop in to Mal’s hands. She scooped Mal up into a hug. “I can’t wait! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Mal grinned back, although she was trying hard to act annoyed. “I am so going to shove you in the lake tomorrow.”

“Try me.” Bit Uma.

They left as early as they could manage, which for the ever sleepy Mal, meant just after noon. She poked Uma in the side with her crutches enough at breakfast, until she finally snapped emotionally and agreed to give Mal a piggyback to the enchanted lake.

“Can’t you just turn into a dragon and fly there?” Grumbled Uma as she scooped Mal up.

“Hmm” Hummed Mal sarcastically, “That sounds like a great idea. Do you want to let the heroes know it’s open season on dragon hunting or should I fly extra high so they are sure to get the message?”

“Hmph”

Mal wrapped her arms around Uma’s shoulders and settled into Uma’s grip. Letting her heavy ankle dangle in the air, more than a little smug she wouldn’t have to put any weight on it.

“I can feel you smirking.” Said Uma.

“Not true,” said Mal, “I am merely enjoying the scenery. For example-“ Mal pointed in a totally random direction. “What a lovely species of… bush.”

Evie narrowed her eyes into the wilderness as she matched Uma’s pace and settled in beside Mal. “I agree. Very… green.”

Mal nodded with a serious air. “Thank you. I try hard with my scientific observations.” She flicked her eyes to Evie and grinned playfully.

Mal let one of her arms go from Uma’s shoulders to reach across to Evie. Evie pretended not to notice, and continued staring at the path ahead of them, but took Mal’s fingers with her own.

Uma threw Mal in the air a bit to readjust her on her hips and laughed at Mal’s squeal of protest.

“Sorry, pothole.” Said Uma, walking on the perfectly paved road to the lake. She swerved wildly, “another pothole.”

They managed to all get to the lake in one piece, despite Uma’s evasive action dodging inviable potholes and assailants. By the time they arrived, Mal was nearly breathless with laughter.

Mal sat on the dais at the edge of the enchanted lake, one foot in the water, the other stuck in plaster stretched out before her on the stone.

Uma was trying, mildly successfully, to teach Evie how to swim while Mal laughed at them from the shore. Thankfully, today Mal alone was immune from being pushed in, as apparently she wasn’t allowed to get her cast wet. As no one else had this protection, a few minutes hardly went by when someone wasn’t shoved off the platform.

Evie looked half drowned but she wouldn’t stop beaming with happiness as she flailed and splashed about in the water. Uma was struggling to keep the smile of her face as she tried to call out serious instructions that were drowned out by all the splashing. Evie’s long dark hair looked almost black, soaking wet with water. It stretched all the way down her back and sprayed everyone in the vicinity with droplets when she shook her head.

There was a serious disparity of skill between the lot of them, clearly separated by which side of the isle they had belonged to. Uma, Harry and Gil were flawless at swimming. Uma was arguably the best, she was the most natural in the water. Unlike Carlos and Jay, there wasn’t even a speck of fear in her eyes as she pushed her head under the water.

Audrey, Jane, Lonnie and Ben were all great at swimming. Although even between them, Lonnie outstripped them by a mile. She had a manic look in her eye as she swam around the lake, the same look Mal recognised happily from football.

She had been banned from playing until her leg healed, but she still went to watch. And occasionally… she did throw grass at Uma when she passed her spot on the grass.

Evie, while as clearly skill-less as Jay and Carlos, and definitely Mal if she’d been allowed in the water, made up for her lack of practice with an unrepentant enthusiasm. She’d hardly been in the water ‘learning’ how to swim for half an hour before she’d challenged Ben to a race.

No one won, it dissolved into sloppy strokes and half choked laughter before Uma swam towards them and promptly rescued Evie from a water based death. Evie was positive she could have made it to the rocky outcrop but Uma just laughed at her and tugged her firmly back to the shallows.

Mal felt happy watching them all as she basked in the sun of midday. It was like all those years of fighting had totally melted away between the lot of them. There was no hesitation anymore. Evie had no qualms about trusting her life to Uma’s, as she waded into deeper water with nothing but Uma’s promise she wouldn’t let her down keeping her safe.

They had been just kids back then. And finally they were allowed to act like them.

Carlos and Gil were busy throwing each other in the lake, while Harry splashed Jay and made sure Carlos wasn’t about to accidently drown. He kept pulling Carlos out of the deep waters by his shirt and walking slowly through the water with him on his shoulders to hand him back to Gil.

Jay was happy in the shallows, splashing Harry, Carlos and Gil every chance he got. It was only when Gil hoisted Jay effortlessly onto his shoulders and waded out a bit further into the crystal clear lake that Jay stared out at the depths with a clear wonder in his eyes. Mal may have noticed the slight tinge of a blush on his cheeks but kept it to herself. The last time she had elbowed Jay in the ribs with a knowing smirk he’d ran off to tourney, but not before ‘accidently’ shoving Mal into the water fountain in the garden.

Ben was wearing another variation of ridiculous crown shorts.

“Where do you even get those from?” Snorted Mal teasingly. “How many of your clothes have little crowns on them? What, do your parents think we will all somehow forget your king If you decide to strip to your swimming shorts?”

Ben opened his mouth and spluttered a protest, “What, no! I don’t know.”

“Well where do you get your clothes from.”

“Evie” chanted Mal. “Literally, every single thing I get from Evie. She has the taste not to put small crowns on everything you wear.”

“Yeah –“ Said Evie from the enchanted lake, “but I might put little dragons on Mal’s next set of pyjamas if she’s not careful.”

Mal gasped. “You wouldn’t”

“Try me.”

After a while of swimming consistently more successfully than Evie, Ben joined Mal on the stone dais.

Mal was wearing a loose shirt, and he could still see the bandages that wrapped around her shoulder and disappeared beneath her collar. There were a few gauze patches taped up her thigh too, from where the werewolf had clawed her as it mangled her leg beneath its jaws.

Ben looked out at the isle kids with lost far away eyes.

He’d tried not making a big deal of it. But today was the first time he’d seen all the isle kids in one place, so free and unrestrained. They were all wearing swimming clothes. Shorts or bikini’s or tee shirts tied at their waists. For the first time, he could see the patch work of scars that covered every single one of them.

Who knows what they had done to each other. What scars on their bodies were from the same hands that now helped them swim or threw them into the water cheekily.

And Mal, here beside him… had scars from saving his life too.

Maybe Mal sensed his mood, because it wasn’t long before she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder. “Without you… we would never have been their friends. Not over there.”

Then Mal ruined it by shoving him in the lake, into Harry’s waiting arms.

“We need another player!” Said Harry, easily scooping Ben onto his shoulders.

Mal laughed at him from the shore, her eyes sparkling, and Ben felt lighter.

Mal was enchanted, watching Evie in the water. It wasn’t just her hilarious attempts to tread water, it was how free she was here. How unrestrained. Joy Mal had never thought to see on her face outside that hideout they called a home, more than a few promises deep that they were totally alone and completely safe.

Here they were, after years under a grey sky, swimming under a bright new sun. Also It didn’t help that Evie was absolutely stunning. Mal might have been looking with more than just careful concern her girlfriend might drown. And from the flashy grins Evie kept sending her, she knew it too.

Eventually Evie climbed out of the enchanted lake and sat beside Mal on the edge, splashing water literally everywhere.

“Hey!” Said Mal, wiping droplets of water off her face.

Evie wrung her hair out and smiled at Mal, “Hey.”

Mal grinned back, “I see you’ve decided to take a break from inhaling all the water in the enchanted lake.”

Evie snorted with laughter, “Just a small break. I feel cleansed, my lungs have had all their curses washed away. I’d recommend it. It really clears your brain when it gets up your nose.”

“Uh, ok,” laughed Mal, “Are you sure you don’t need some sort of medical intervention?”

“No,” Evie hummed, “I think I just need to sit here next to you, oh, I’d say for the next few years. Uninterrupted.” Evie shuffled closer to Mal and leant her head on Mal’s good shoulder.

“You are soaking.”

“Mmm” Hummed Evie, peering up at Mal and grinning. “I thought you had a thing for kissing me in the rain.” Evie battered her eyelashes up at Mal.

Mal grinned, “Ok you’ve got me there.”

Their kiss didn’t last long, before everyone in the lake screamed at them with unrepentantly loud whooping noises.

Mal only blushed and gave them the finger. Evie ignored them and pull Mal in for a deeper kiss.

As the sun got lower in the sky, all the kids finally got out of the pool to dry before the walk home through the forest. Mal happily ate the abundant strawberries as they stared across the beautiful lake, reflecting the sky’s afternoon light.

“I love this place.” Sighed Jane happily, staring out at the sparkling waters. “It’s practically the only magical place left in Auradon. They couldn’t exactly get rid of this… I think my mother might have talked them out of banning visitors…” Jane shrugged. “The enchanted lake that wipes away curses… they couldn’t exactly argue with that. Considering their whole argument pivoted on the fact that everything they did was apparently to undo them.”

Jane dipped her toes in the water and chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I’ve always loved coming here.” She looked over to Mal, Evie and Uma. “I don’t know if you guys can feel it… but the magic here… This has always been the only place I could feel even a glimpse of it. It helped.”

Jane didn’t need to continue. Everyone knew what she was talking about. Visiting this lonely dais had been her only chance to connect with any form of the magic she had been denied her whole life.

Mal stretched her legs out before her. “I understand. When we were on the isle, we’d often go sit on the roof of our hideout. It helped too. It was almost like we were out of there, so high up we could just look out at the ocean. Stare at the shoreline and imagine we were on that side of the barrier. It wasn’t freedom… but it was a glimpse.”

Fairy Godmother was waiting for them when they arrived back at Auradon Prep, as they walked through the tall silver gates. Mal thought she might be there to see why they had been out so late, maybe they weren’t supposed to go that far from school grounds?

But as they got closer, Mal could see that it wasn’t anger on Fairy Godmother’s face. Her hands were tight together, wringing anxiously as she waited for them.

Mal felt her heart drop.

“You need to know,” said Fairy Godmother, as soon as they were all gathered around her. Their hair still dripping and wet from their wonderful day out together. She looked loathe to ruin their clearly happy moods. She swallowed, like there was glass in her throat.

“The heroes,” she started, “they’ve moved your trail up. It’s on Monday. You present your testimony first thing.” She struggled to find the words. “They expect – they expect to reach a verdict by Tuesday morning.”

Fairy Godmother turned to Jane with a serious expression. “But first, there is something you must do Jane.” She turned to the group. “And you all must go with her. As witness.”

Jane looked up at her mother with surprise, “what?” She frowned.

“We must act quickly before the council convenes to decide the fate of the isle. The time has come,” Fairy godmother said seriously, “for your to receive your wand.”

It seemed peacetime was coming to its end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!!
> 
> We are really in it now team!!! Evie and Mal are making out every chance they get!   
I just had to give you a little bit of fun times as a treat, before the trails! 
> 
> What do you guys think?! Please leave a comment down below!
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> Thank you sooooo much for all the lovely comments! You have no idea how many times i re-read them when I'm trying to finish chapters! It helps my motivation! Which I desperetly need in 2020, as do we all!!! 
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> Hope you are all safe, well, keeping out of COVID and practising good hand washing/ mask wearing / social distancing behaviours!! My love to you ALL. 
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